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Seen as catalyst in ICT reforms, saga of 3rd telco shows up need for legislation, policy changes

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By Lorenz S. Marasigan

EGULATORY constraints will hound the entry of a new telco player in the Philippines, and without reforms in policies on digital real-estate management and other practices, what is deemed as the catalyst for change in the telecommunications space will struggle to compete with the “wellentrenched duopoly.”

Thus says Winthrop Y. Yu, who chairs the Internet Society of the Philippines. He believes the government must revisit regulatory policies to help the new entrant compete effectively against incumbents PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. “Any new entrant will still have to cope with a regulatory environment that favors the dominant incumbents,” he told the BusinessMirror, noting “the fact that the duopoly effectively controls nearly 80 percent of assignable frequencies, and possible anticompetitive practices.” Based on government data, PLDT holds 400 megahertz (MHz) of the total spectrum holdings, while Globe has rights to 325 MHz. What remains is a swathe of

225 MHz of frequencies in the 700MHz, 2100-MHz, 2.5-gigahertz, 3.3-GHz and 3.5-GHz bands. In the country, spectrum— deemed as digital real estates that act as conduit for data transfer—is usually assigned, not auctioned. In other parts of the world, governments bid out frequencies to create additional revenue streams. Auctioning off frequencies is a two-pronged strategy that could help the government create more wealth for public use, and ensure that telcos would efficiently use the allocations that they secured.

‘Old telco era mindset’

BECAUSE of the old practice in the Philippines, some companies that

have legislative franchises to operate telco services have through the years “hoarded” swathes of frequencies only to sell them to incumbents. To recall, San Miguel Corp. held for many years roughly 310 MHz of spectrum on several bands, including the coveted 700-MHz frequency band. It was in the process of setting up its own telco with a potential partner—Telstra Corp. Ltd. of Australia—when it struck a buy-in deal with the two existing players after its talks with Telstra stalled over the issue of who should bear the regulatory burdens. The transaction freed up the spectrum holdings of San Miguel, and gave way for PLDT and Globe to hold more spectrum under a co-use

agreement, which was approved by the telco regulator. Spectrum is the real estate on which telecommunication operators develop their respective networks to deliver services to customers. The amount of spectrum assigned to a telco has an impact on the cost of the build capacity, overall network performance, ability to offer new multimedia services and general customer experience of wireless services.

‘Support DICT’

YU also called on the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to have a change in mindset Continued on A2

RAISING FUNDS THROUGH TERRORISM

ASG or IS? Same alphabet soup game on who’s to blame after Basilan blast

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By Rene Acosta

HE deadly explosion that ripped through Basilan City on Tuesday (July 31), killing 10 persons, including a suspected suicide bomber, was carried out with the use of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil as part of the strategy of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) to raise money by way of international funding, a military officer said, belying initial claims it was the handiwork of the Islamic State. PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 53.0080

Lt. Col. Gerry Besana, spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Mindanao Command, said that the Basilanbased cash-strapped terrorists have to shore up their coffers, as the military has remarkably succeeded in checking their moneymaking activities, including kidnapping. He said the ASG needed the bombing incident as a “bargaining chip” in order to raise funds from local and international supporters. Hence, the group carried out the bombing. Before it could be actually implemented to inflict casualties by the hundreds in the heart of the city as planned, however, security forces in the area were able to intercept the van loaded with the explosive materials, Besana added.

The massive explosion was carried out, ironically, just days after President Duterte called on the ASG terrorists for talks, and after the Moro Islamic Liberation Front confidently declared that the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) will isolate terrorism in Mindanao.

IS or ASG?

GOVERNMENT forces inspect a damaged military outpost after a bomb exploded in a van in Lamitan, Basilan, southern Philippines, on July 31, 2018. A bomb-laden van driven by a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant went off in a powerful blast on Tuesday in a brazen attack that reignited terrorism fears. AP

WITHOUT precluding the outcome of the investigation, military officials have reason to believe that the bombing was perpetrated by the ASG, contrary to the claim of the Islamic State that it was behind the bombing. While the blast may be powerful enough, this is not the first time that the ASG has carried out such bombing with the use of ammonium nitrate. Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4748 n UK 69.0164 n HK 6.7531 n CHINA 7.7518 n SINGAPORE 38.7344 n AUSTRALIA 39.0033 n EU 61.4151 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.1347

Source: BSP (August 3, 2018 )

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A2 Saturday, August 4, 2018

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ASG or IS? Same alphabet soup game on who’s to blame after Basilan blast Continued from a1

“This is not the first time that the ASG has used such a bomb, there is a pattern,” said Besana, noting that in 2011, the terrorist group had also attempted to bomb the grandstand in Isabela City, Basilan. The bomb, which was made of ammonium nitrate and stuffed in a vehicle, prematurely went off, however, killing five ASG members. “It is almost entirely the same. The kind of bomb that was used, the use of vehicle and the death of the vehicle occupant,” Besana said. “It is the signature of the ASG,” he said. The use of ammonium nitrate—indicating it was a homemade bomb—and the availability of the chemical in the market as it is widely used by farmers and even fishermen, bolstered Besana’s declaration that the bombing was the handiwork of the ASG. “But again, we don’t want to preclude the outcome of the investigation as it is still ongoing,” he said.

While the IS has owned up to the bombing, other officials, including Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, have refused to identify any particular group behind the bombing in deference to the ongoing probe. According to Besana, the blast, which occurred near a detachment manned by militiamen, created a crater that is about 4 feet deep and about 4 meters up to 5 meters in diameter. Military officials believe that had it been slipped into the heart of Lamitan City and detonated in an area where there is a big concentration of people, it could have easily killed at least 200 people, or even as many as thousands.

Raising funds through terror

BESANA said that through the bombing, the ASG wanted to court both local and international funding, which it needed to finance and sustain its operation. “They needed funds and the best way to get the attention of donors is by way of the bombing and

other terror activities,” he said. “They wanted to project that they are still around,” he added. Other than raising money to support its operation, the ASG also needs money to finance its attempt of recruitment following the decline in its membership. Besana said the ASG in Basilan is on a steady decline, as a result of the continuing surrender and neutralization of its members. The trend was bolstered by the surrender months ago of Furudji Indama, the most active commander of the terrorist group in the province. The yielding of Indama prompted Lorenzana and even Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. to declare that the ASG was on its way to extinction. With the muscle-flexing it showed—assuming the military theory is correct—the ASG, however, signals that such may not be the case, and we may witness more of its grim signature in the days to come.

GOVERNMENT forces walk beside damaged homes after a bomb exploded in a van in Lamitan, Basilan, southern Philippines, on July 31, 2018.

AP

Big dreams, bigger challenges Continued from a1

on regulation, and start supporting the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in introducing the new telco. “Support from government agencies is key. The DICT has taken the lead in fostering competition and consumer choice. Other agencies, especially the NTC, should dispense with old telco-era thinking and habits, and fully support the DICT’s initiatives,” he added. Eliseo M. Rio Jr., the acting secretary of the DICT, said his agency plans to order the telco regulator to auction off frequencies

for 5G mobile technology use in the future, once the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) identifies them. Under Philippine laws and memoranda issued by the telco regulator as early as 1906, the government has to tender off spectrum to players in an open and transparent manner. The practice, however, has always been to allocate these finite—but renewable—real estates to telco players.

Need for a spectrum management law

BETTER Broadband Alliance con-

vener Mary Grace MirandillaSantos agreed that spectrum management is a prerequisite for a competitive telco market—one that provides consumers with the best services at the lowest prices. “The government must focus efforts on overall telecom and spectrum-management reforms in order to truly create a market environment that is conducive to competition for the long term,” she said. Managing spectrum would mean that the government will conduct a motu propio review of the usage and payment of frequencies by telcos.

From that review, the regulator may reclassify, refarm and rebid those that are not efficiently used by their holders. The future third telco is expected to receive roughly 225 MHz of spectrum holdings, or almost half of the resource held by each of the duopoly. Pierre Tito M. Galla, the cofounder of consumer group Democracy.PH, added that more than a policy, the government must institutionalize spectrum management by making it part of the legislative agenda. “We are, likewise, hopeful that the legislature will begin consideration of a spectrum-management reform law,” he said. Experts have been pushing for reforms in the telco space for several years now, as the Philippines continued to be a laggard in terms of Internet quality and reach in the region. Based on Ookla’s research, the Philippines ranked 97th out of 125 countries in terms of mobiledata speeds, and 84th out of 135 in fixed broadband. Tower infrastructure is, likewise, below par, totaling to only 16,000 towers versus the total demand of 70,000 towers. Hence, the government is implementing a common tower policy, and is holding a “beauty contest” for the third telco.

ICT development laws

THESE efforts notwithstanding, for Galla, more than policies implemented by government agencies, legislative reforms are also needed to cement rules and improve the Philippine digital economy. “We hope that the administration speeds up the passage of ICT reform bills in the legislative pipeline, such as the Open Access in Data Transmission bill, the Mobile Number Portability bill, the amendments to the Public Telecommunications Act and the Public Service Act, among others,” he said. Recently, Sen. Sherwin T. Gatchalian urged his colleagues in the Senate to pass the three bills to ease the entry of the third telco and foster a more competitive telco environment. The Open Access in Data Transmission bill will allow the use of data distribution systems and facilities subject to fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms in a transparent market. In the Senate, the bill will allow additional telco players to enter the Philippine market even without a congressional franchise. When passed, the Mobile Number Portability bill will al-

low subscribers to retain their old numbers even after shifting to another telco provider. Amendments to the Public Telecommunications and the Public Service laws seek to shift telecommunications services to a basic service, and further regulate the market. “Hopefully, with the passage of information and communications technology reform laws in the legislative pipeline, soon the Filipino people will begin to feel the fast, reliable and affordable Internet connectivity and ICT services,” Galla said.

‘Vision 2020’

ASIDE from regulatory and legislative reforms, Rio said the government is also pushing for the development of vital infrastructure to help achieve a better ICT environment in the next two years. He listed five initiatives that his agency is implementing to help cope with the demands, and help bridge the digital divide in the country. These are Luzon Bypass Infrastructure; the backbone from National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) and National Transmission Corp. (Transco); the National Broadband Network; the Free Wi-Fi program; and the third telco search. The Luzon Bypass Infrastructure, being constructed by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority in partnership with Facebook, will be a 250-kilometer cable network corridor that will provide a terrestrial bypass route for international submarine cable owners. It will have a capacity of 2 terabytes per second, which is almost equal to the combined capacity of PLDT and Globe. The backbone from the power companies, on the other hand, was secured sometime in June, when the two companies signed a tripartite agreement with Rio’s office for the use and access in certain spare fiber-optic cores, vacant lots, tower spaces and related facilities. Combined, the dark fiber facilities of the two companies span 6,154 kilometers across Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. This will complement the National Broadband Network, which will include the development and deployment of a mixture of several Internet connectivity, technologies, such as fixed line and mobile data, among others, all over the Philippines—including missionary areas. The Free Wi-Fi program, on the other hand, involves the deployment of Wi-Fi connectivity in public spaces, such as schools,

government offices, parks, hospitals and other locations all over the Philippines, to help connect Filipinos to the Internet. Last, the third telco initiative aims to award the spot for a new telco to spur competition in the market to lower prices and improve services. “These will all be finished by 2020, and by that year we will start improvements in the ICT industries. Collectively, we call this program Vision 2020,” Rio told the BusinessMirror. This is the first time that the Philippine government is actively investing in the development of Internet facilities, taking the cue from neighbors such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. “The government now is contributing to ICT development,” Rio asserted.

‘Second fastest Internet by 2020’

THESE, he said, will help the Philippines recuperate from its recent plunge in the World Digital Competitiveness Rankings for 2018. “In two years, we will go back,” Rio said. “We will surpass what we have so far; we will have our highest standing by 2020.” Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD) recently ranked the Philippines as the 56th nation out of 63 countries in terms of digital competitiveness globally in 2018, plunging 10 places from 46th last year. The latest ranking considers the three following factors in its rankings: knowledge, technology and future readiness. The Philippines’s rankings plunged largely due to the severe drops in areas like adaptive attitudes (from 50th to 60th) and business agility (from 23rd to 31st). Likewise, among the country’s major weaknesses were reportedly communications technology and Internet bandwidth—where it ranked 62nd and 61st, respectively, out of the 63 countries included in the study. He added said that the quality of Internet in the Philippines will be on a par with Singapore— deemed as one of the countries with the best Internet connectivity in the world—by 2020. “We will be near Singapore standards in two years. Before the end of this administration, we will be No. 3 or No. 2 in terms of Internet speed and coverage in the region,” Rio said.

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A4 August 4, 2018 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos Editor:Saturday, Efleda P. Campos • www.businessmirror.com.ph

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GDPR in Philippines to boost business dealings with EU

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By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes | Contributor

HE implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the Philippines will benefit more organizations, as this will enhance their transactions and dealing with European Union (EU)-based businesses and citizens, because they have data privacy and transparency measures, an executive said. “We see the GDPR pushing other countries, including the Philippines, to improve their respective dataprivacy regulations. It is effectively making state-of-the-art data security the new standard across the globe,” Trend Micro Director for Technology Marketing Myla Pilao said in a press statement. The new regulation applies to all organizations that operate in the EU and/or processes the personal information of EU citizens, regardless of their size or location. In this light, companies based in

the Philippines but engaged in businesses involving EU citizens must comply with the regulation. The GDPR, which took into effect last May 25, requires companies and other organizations operating in the EU, wherever they are based, to practice greater transparency and vigilance in accessing and collecting consumers’ personal data. “GDPR is a good development for both users and companies alike,” Pilao said. “For one, compliance with the stricter rules on data protection

spurs consumer confidence amid the growing threat of cybersecurity breaches. It also levels the playing field for companies by deterring unfair access to consumer data.” GDPR is regarded as the most significant change in data-privacy regulation in 20 years, which will see drastic changes in the way of doing businesses worldwide. The regulation draws greater transparency from organizations that process personal information and, at the same time, grants consumers more control over their data. “GDPR essentially empowers consumers to determine what data they will share, who will have access to such information and how companies can process and use them,” Pilao said. “Accordingly, consumers can better protect themselves online.” As consumers wield more control over their data, Pilao said user consent becomes an important factor for data processing to take place or even to continue. Companies, as data controllers, must therefore use “concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible” forms when asking consumers to agree to privacy terms and conditions or data collection and processing. They must also disclose the purpose or

legal grounds for data processing, the categories of personal data collected, possible recipients of the data and the period when the data will be stored. Consumers can restrict data processing if certain conditions apply. Addressing the automated way personal data is used for decision-making, the GDPR adds a provision where data subjects can opt out of automated data processing, including profiling. GDPR also allows consumers to correct any information they have previously allowed to be collected, pursuant to their “right to rectification.” Meanwhile, they can exercise their “right to erasure” or “right to be forgotten” to delete their personal information from data controller’s database without undue delay. In addition, consumers can receive and transmit, in a common and machine-readable format, their personal data to another company, through the “right to data portability” provision of the GDPR. “As they wield more control, consumers share more responsibility of knowing and protecting their data, making them partners of the organizations with whom they have entrusted their data,” Pilao said.

DTI-EMB strengthens ties with Cebu, Davao start-ups By Vic Soriano

Chief, Knowledge Processing Division DTI-EMB

STARTUP Genome Director of Research Arnobio Morelix (standing, left) assists a participant to complete the survey during the focus group discussion (FGD) held at Harolds Hotel in Cebu City on July 18, while Startup Genome Manager of Research Pranav Arya looks on. The same FGD was conducted at the Pinnacle Hotel and Suites for Davao City start-ups on July 20.

Division Chief Angie Brosas, Kaye Mendoza of EMB-KPD, and Brian Jay Ambulo from the Office of the TIPG Undersecretary. Based on Startup Genome’s analysis, Manila is currently in Activation Phase in terms of experience levels, ecosystem size (start-up output) and resource attraction. While Manila’s overall startup experience is close to Activation Phase average, the ecosystem needs more sizable exits, the report said. The report also noted that output growth in Manila shows the ecosystem is expanding rapidly and that overall global resource attraction is higher than the phase average. However, the Manila ecosystem needs to improve in terms of funding and the number of experienced engineers. It added that Manila has not been able to create a series of over $100-million exits in the ecosystem, which are a must for

resource attraction. Focus must be on driving valuations and achieving multiple $100-million+ exits to enter next phase, the report said. The report also said market reach is the single metric most closely related to ecosystem production of scaleups and exits. Manila start-ups, the report noted, have a lower global market reach than most of their peers in the activation phase. “Start-ups with higher global market reach early on see their revenue grow two times faster and are more likely to become scaleups,” Morelix said, adding that global market reach is driven by global connectedness. “Notably, the focus of ecosystems should be on building connections with top ecosystems,” he said. T he repor t conc luded Mani la star tups have more potentia l to streng then globa l market reach.

ICTSI helps bankroll Go Negosyo programs nationwide By Lorenz S. Marasigan

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LOBAL port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is once again helping to bankroll the ongoing programs of Go Negosyo, a ranking official of the company said . This is the second time in a row the Enrique K. Razon-led company partnered with the Phil-

ippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE) to promote entrepreneurship. “With micro, small and medium enterprises leading the growth of our country, our partnership complements that of ICTSI’s principle of upholding the long view of things—creating impact that is felt across borders and generations,” ICTSI Global Corporate and Asia Pacific Head Christian R. Gonzalez said in a statement.

Go Negosyo is an advocacy of the PCE that started in 2005, aiming to address poverty through mentorship and opening linkages to business opportunities and funding sources for micro, small and medium enterprises. Among the programs financed partly by the port operator are events, such as the “Mentoring the Mentors,” “Filipina Entrepreneurship Summit” and “Mentor Me on Wheels,” among others.

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MARKET DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

Market opportunities for PHL food exports down under By Alma F. Argayoso

Senior Trade Representative PTIC-Sydney

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FEW days prior to my departure for my new posting in Sydney, Australia, the Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) organized an information session on Australia’s food regulatory system and imported food inspection scheme. Australia is often referred to as an island continent with very stringent import requirements, making access to the Australian market quite challenging. A number of our exporters have been found noncompliant with its import requirements and as such, the information session was organized to prevent similar circumstances from occurring in the future, reduce costly delays and facilitate successful business deals between Filipino exporters and Australian buyers. Mark Phythian, an expert from Australia’s Department of Agriculture and Water Resources who is also director for Imported Food Section, Compliance Policy Division, served as the resource speaker. Mr. Phythian generously shared his knowledge and experiences on importing food to Australia and provided useful links on the protocols to be followed when importing food down under. He advised exporters to build a relationship and work closely with importers as they make a lot of decisions when it comes to complying with import requirements. He further stressed it is the shared responsibility of everyone in ensuring that import requirements are complied with to help keep biosecurity risks from entering the country.

Market opportunities

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N an effort to deepen relationships with local start-up ecosystem players in Cebu and Davao and complete the ecosystem assessment of the two cities for the Startup Genome Project, the Department of Trade and Industry-Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) organized a focus group discussion (FGD) in Cebu and Davao on July 18 and 20, respectively. Startup Genome Project aims to increase the success rate of start-ups and improve the performance of the start-up ecosystem across more than 30 countries, including the Philippines. The DTI-EMB facilitated the Philippines’s first-time participation in the Startup Genome Project, which released the 2018 Global Startup Ecosystem Report in April this year. The 2018 GSER featured strategic start-up, investment and policy insights from over 10,000 founders in 45 cities, including Manila. Attended by 100 start-ups, technology business incubators (TBIs), accelerators, business support organizations (BSOs), academe and government agencies, the FGD was facilitated by Startup Genome Director of Research Arnobio Morelix and Manager of Research Pranav Arya in Harolds Hotel in Cebu City and The Pinnacle Hotel and Suites in Davao City. With assistance from DTI 7 OIC Assistant Regional Director Ma. Elena C. Arbon and DTI 11 Industry Development Division Chief Marie Anne J. How, the FGD focused on the challenges Cebu and Davao start-ups face, the strengths of their ecosystems, and the recommended solutionss to address their key concerns. “In addition to getting a better understanding of the local start-up scene and ultimately work together with you to increase your exposure and improve your performance, this FGD also aims to elicit your commitment to be ecosystem partners in the research through sharing of your expertise and supporting data collection, learn from your insights to complete the Ecosystem 360 Rubric, and ask you to complete the Organization Assessment,” Morelix said. Morelix also reported to the participants the Manila Ecosystem Findings, which he also presented to Trade and Investments Promotion Group (TIPG) Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado, DTI-EMB Director Senen M. Perlada, EMB-Knowledge Processing Division (KPD) Chief Vic Soriano, EMB-KPD Assistant

Saturday, August 4, 2018

ONE of the highlights of the information session was a presentation by EMB Director Senen M. Perlada on the market opportunities in Australia. Australia is the Philippine’s 14th major trading partner with total bilateral trade amounting to $2.1 billion, behind most countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Despite the free-trade agreement with Australia under the Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), where 96.8 percent of our merchandise exports enjoy zero tariff when exported to Australia, the Philippines has yet to maximize trade with Australia with the relatively small amount of Philippine exports to Australia—$439 million exports versus Philippine imports of $1.69 billion. By the year 2020, all Philippines merchandise exports will enjoy zero tariff when exported to Australia, providing greater market access for Philippine products. The Philippines’s major exports to Australia are electrical machinery, consumer electronics, desiccated coconut and other processed food. Meanwhile, the Philippines imports copper ores and concentrates, coal, beef and wheat in order to fuel industrial production and support a growing population. Specifically for food, the Philippines’s top exports to Australia in 2017 were coconut, processed fruits and extracts, sauces and condiments, pasta and noodles, biscuits and wafers, fruit juices, fresh and frozen tuna. Australia has a population of over 24 million. According to the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), the fresh food, processed food and beverage sector had a total turnover of AU$110.6 billion for the period 2015 to 2016. Processed food and beverage is a AU$104.2billion industry while fresh food is a AU$6.4-billion industry. Food retailing is big business in Australia. Of the top 10 companies in Australia for 2017 based on revenue, the top 2 are food retailers. The biggest company in Australia with a total turnover of AU$68.73 billion is Westfarmers which owns the Coles supermarket chain. The second-biggest company in Australia, Woolworths, also owns the biggest number of supermarkets and had a turnover of AU$55.92 billion in 2017. Westfarmers and Woolworths had bigger gross revenues than the big-

gest banks in Australia, such as Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ Bank. Both Westfarmers and Woolworths also had bigger revenues than the biggest mining companies in Australia, such as BHP and Rio Tinto. The other significant food retailers are ALDI and IGA. It is important to note that the smaller independent food retailers, such as the Asian supermarkets and mom and pop stores, comprise 21 percent of the overall food retailing in Australia. There are currently 264,430 Filipinos living in Australia, the thirdlargest migrant population, behind China and India. There is also a significant number of other Asian nationals, such as Malaysians, Vietnamese and Indonesians. Philippine food and beverages have a ready market with Australia’s Asian population and there is potential for Philippine products to make it to the Australian mainstream market.

Banana: A tall order

I WOULD be remiss if I don’t discuss the elephant in the room. For almost two decades, the Philippine government, through the Department of Agriculture (DA), has been working on market access for Philippine Cavendish bananas to enter the Australian market. In 2000 the “Import Risk Analysis [IRA] for Bananas from the Philippines” has been initiated and a draft IRA recommended that bananas are not permitted due to the risk of entry of some pests and diseases being too high to meet Australia’s level of protection. The Philippine government fought this and initiated a dispute in the World Trade Organization in October 2002. In December 2004 a technical working group from Biosecurity Australia (BA) visited the Philippines to discuss the status of the IRA, conduct visits and inspections to various Philippine banana plantations, and discuss market access issues. Following years of discussion, BA issued a policy determination on March 3, 2009, which allowed the entry of Philippine bananas to Australia subject to the Quarantine Act 1908, and the application of specific Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) as contained in the Final Report on IRA. The report contained at least 12 conditions that must be complied with prior to exporting bananas to Australia. In spite of the stringent conditions set out in the IRA, the Philippine Banana Growers Association (PBGEA) relayed the requirements outlined in the report may be possible to comply with except for two sticking points: (1) the requirement for the banana plants to have a minimum of eight sound green leaves on the day of harvest, and (2) all bunches intended for export to Australia should be covered with nonperforated bunch covers. PBGEA explained the accepted industry norm anywhere in the world is five good leaves at harvest. This has been proven to be more than sufficient by Philippine shipments all the way to the Middle East and the United States. On the use of non-perforated bunch covers, PBGEA contends it will cause various types of fungal growth and diseases due to the lack of air circulation and build up of moisture. Philippine government agencies have been meeting to resolve these issues and this has been the tall order of Secretary Ramon M. Lopez during my farewell courtesy visit. Considering the market opportunities in Australia, he would like to see agriculture products, such as fresh bananas and other processed products, mainstreamed in Australia. This is what our trade office in Sydney will set out to do as we work on improving or rebalancing our trade with Australia. Indeed, we see a great deal of potential growth in the Australian market and would not want to miss out on the exciting opportunities down under!

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The World BusinessMirror

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Trump trashes media as ‘fake, fake disgusting news’ at rally By Jonathan Lemire & Jill Colvin

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The Associated Press

ILKES-BARRE, Pennsylvania—Thundering that the media is the “fake, fake disgusting news,” President Donald J. Trump unleashed a torrent of grievances on Thursday at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in which he cast journalists as his true political opponent.

Trump barnstormed in a state that he swiped from the Democrats in 2016 and that is home to a Senate seat he is trying to place in the Republicans’ column this fall. But the race between GOP US Rep. Lou Barletta and two-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey took a back seat to Trump’s invectives against the media, which came amid a backdrop of antagonism to journalists from the White House and hostility from the thousands packed into a loud, overheated Wilkes-Barre arena. “What ever happened to the free press? What ever happened to honest reporting? ” Trump asked, pointing to the media in the back of the room. “They don’t report it. They only make up stories.” Time and time again, Trump denounced the press for underselling his accomplishments and doubting his political rise. He tore into the media for diminishing what he accomplished at his Singapore summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un. He complained about the tough questioning he received in Helsinki when he met with Russia’s Vladimir Putin last month. And he began his rally speech with a 10 -minute remembrance of his 2016 election-night victory, bemoaning that Pennsylvania wasn’t the state to clinch the White House for him only because “the fake news refused to call it.” “ T hey were suf fer ing that n ight, t he y were su f fer i ng ,” Trump said of the election-night pundits. He then promised that the Keystone State would deliver his margin of victory “next time.” “Only negative stories from the fakers back there,” the president declared. With each denunciation, the crowd jeered and screamed at the press in the holding pen. T he inf l a mmator y per for mance came just hours after W hite House Press Secretar y Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused

to distance herself from Trump’s previous assertions that the media is the “enemy” of the American people. Pressed during a White House br iefing on the issue, Sanders said Trump “has made his position known.” In a heated exchange with reporters, she recited a litany of complaints against the press and blamed the media for inflaming tensions in the country. “As far as I know, I’m the first press secretary in the history of the United States that’s required Secret Service protection,” she said, accusing the media of continuing “to ratchet up the verbal assault against the president and everyone in this administration.” Although Barletta’s bid was an undercard to Trump’s main event,

savaging his opponents, the president did bless the congressman’s bid. Trump, who has accelerated his campaign schedule in recent weeks to help the Republicans he favors both in primaries and November’s midterms, was the first Republican to win Pennsylvania since 1988. “For years and years, they said Republicans should win the state of Pennsylvania,” Trump said. “It always got away. But we won the state of Pennsylvania.” He and Barletta, who is trailing by double digits in the polls, sha re ha rd-l ine imm ig rat ion views, and Trump lashed Casey with his own derogatory nickname: “Sleeping Bob.” But Tr ump’s focus was on defending his own accomplishments and beliefs. He pushed for tougher borders, overstating the threat posed by violent gangs like MS-13 and making the group a stand-in for all immigrants in the United States illegally. He defended his kid-glove approach to both Kim and Putin, saying, “it would be a good thing, not a bad thing” to have warmer relations with the hostile powers and dismissing talk that summits with the autocrats elevated them on the world stage. He bashed the Democratic leadership of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and, curiously, suggested that his frequent foe Rep. Maxine Waters of California was “a

What ever happened to the free press? What ever happened to honest reporting? They [the US media] don’t report it. They only make up stories.”—Trump

new star” of the party. He raved about the booming economy and said, without evidence, that his blue-collar supporters in states like Pennsylvania were the biggest beneficiaries. And he looked ahead to his 2020 reelection campaign, touting his new slogan, “Keep America Great Again,” while musing whether he wanted Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth War ren, whom he decr ied as “Pocahontas,” or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whom he flatly deemed “crazy,” as his opponent. The rally came at a perilous time for Trump, who, the day before, had bluntly declared via tweet that his attorney general should terminate the federal probe into the campaign that took him to the White House. It was a newly fervent attack on the special counsel investigation that could imperil his presidency. Sanders scrambled to explain that Trump’s tweet was “not an order” and that the president was not directing his attorney general to do anything. “It’s the president’s opinion,” she said. But it again raised the specter that Trump could try to more directly bring special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia-Trump election-collusion probe to a premature end. And it revived the idea that the president’s tweets themselves might be used as evidence that he is attempting to obstruct justice. Negotiations have also started again about a possible presidential interview as Mueller’s team has offered the W hite House format changes, perhaps willing to limit some questions asked of Trump or accept some answers in writing, according to a person briefed on the proposal who wasn’t authorized to discuss private talks and spoke on condition of anonymity.

President Donald J. Trump arrives at a rally on Thursday at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. AP/Carolyn Kaster

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Wealthy Singapore a prime target for global hackers Bridges stand in front of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino in Singapore, on June 3. United States President Donald J. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in the city on June 12. Nicky Loh/Bloomberg

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ingapore’s status as a hyperconnected financial hub makes it a prime target for hackers, and recently reported attacks have intensified the focus on cybersecurity as it pushes to become one of the world’s leading technology hubs. In what local media have been calling the largest data breach in the country’s history uncovered last month, hackers stole information on 1.5 million patients, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, during an attack on Singapore’s biggest public health-care group, SingHealth. Within days, the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) also reported that hackers stole the personal data of 70,000 members in 2013. “Singapore certainly has attractive assets that would be of significant interest to cyber threat adversaries from across the motivation spectrum, including financial crime and state-sponsored espionage,” said Tim Wellsmore, director of Asia Pacific government security programs for cyber security firm FireEye. “It certainly is raising the attention of the right officials within the Singapore government,” he said by phone. Singapore, ranked the world ’s seventh wealthiest country by A llianz in a recent report and home to 127 foreign and local banks w ith tota l commercia l ba n k deposits of more t h a n S$613 bi l lion ($4 49 bi l lion), promptly launched a police investigation into the attack and convened a Committee of Inquiry to conduct an independent external review. The government also paused all projects related to the country’s Smart Nation initiative that have yet to be rolled out, while the 2023 deadline for people to be able to complete up to 95 percent of all government transactions online could be pushed back. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country’s central bank, also issued a notice to all financial institutions, directing them to tighten their customer verification processes and not to rely only on full name, national identification number, address, gender, race and date of birth for customer verification. Singapore in 2016 announced plans to stop most of its public servants from being able to access the Internet from their work computers in the face of growing hacker threats, affecting around 100,000 public servants’ computers. The government also introduced new

laws to ensure that the sensitive data collected by mobile app developers and other companies was safe from hackers. “Attackers are likely to feel that they will have rich pickings if they’re able to breach public or private systems,” Reuben Sinclair, a cybersecurity representative from the UK’s Department of International Trade who is based in Singapore, said by phone.

Espionage capabilities

Cybersecurity specialists believe only a few countries, such as China, Russia and the US, could have been capable of such a sophisticated attack as the one on SingHealth. North Korean hackers have also been linked to several recent high-profile cyber attacks. “With any discussion of hacking, China does leap to mind,” Tom Uren, a visiting fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said in an email. “But Singapore is regionally important so there could be a number of Asian countries that would possibly have some motivation.” In the past, China appeared to have hacked large volumes of personal information with the intention of creating a database to strengthen its espionage and counter intelligence capabilities, he said. “This hack does match their modus operandi,” Uren said. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a faxed request for comment. “Geopolitica l relations are impacted by incidents like this, particularly in light of global tensions, including over trade,” said Gino Bello, a senior director at business advisory firm FTI Consulting.

Strong response

While Singapore ranked No. 1 on the International Telecommunication Union’s 2017 Global Cybersecurity Index, the SingHealth cyber attack reinforced the need for heightened and effective security, said Bello. “In comparison to less connected nations, the repercussions of an attack are potentially more significant,” Bello said. “More information can be accessed by hackers if successful. But the consequences to bad threat actors when uncovered, are arguably graver.” Still, when a breach such as this is uncovered, FireEye’s Wellsmore said, it could help many other organizations around the world take steps to prevent similar attacks from succeeding. Bloomberg News

Pompeo faces struggle to squeeze North Korea, Iran S

ecretary of State Michael Pompeo will arrive in Singapore for a regional summit that will spotlight the challenges facing US efforts to keep up international pressure against both North Korea and Iran. Pyong yang has been sending representatives to meetings hosted by the Asean since 2000, but this year they’ll enjoy enhanced diplomatic prominence after President Donald Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un in the city-state two months ago. The Iranians, meanwhile, signed a friendship pact on Thursday with a 10-member regional bloc.

Both nations are engaged in fraught disputes with the US over their weapons programs and nuclear aspirations. And both have seen success in courting global support despite Trump’s effort to pressure them. Underscoring the issue: North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho was slated to fly on to Tehran after the summit. He arrived Friday in Singapore on an Air China Ltd. plane. Several close US allies, including France, Germany and the UK, have criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran. And Asean members resisted calls by Pompeo’s

predecessor, Rex Tillerson, to downgrade or sever diplomatic ties with Pyongyang last year at the height of Kim’s provocations. “When Asean countries look at countries like North Korea and Iran, they don’t feel directly threatened by them, like say the US does,” said Oh Ei Sun, senior adviser for international affairs at the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute in Kuala Lumpur. “We look at Iran like we look at North Korea—great trade and investment opportunities.”

Ups, downs

North Korea and Iran are at

opposite ends of up-and-down relationships with the US, especially as illustrated by the president’s tweets. Trump last week warned Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani that he would “Suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered,” if he threatened America. O n T hu rsd ay Tr u mp, who had unleashed similar rhetoric against Kim last year, instead praised the North Korean leader for returning the remains of about 55 US service members killed in the Korean War—the first tangible outcome since their summit. “I am not at all surprised that you

took this kind action,” Trump said in a tweet. Still, Pompeo has sought to maintain Trump’s pressure campaign against North Korea as the two sides bicker over Kim’s pledge to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” The secretary will remind all nations present of their commitments to maintain sanctions against North Korea until that goal is achieved, a senior State Department official said at a briefing on Tuesday in Washington. In recent weeks, Pompeo has repeatedly asserted that K im agreed to the “final, fully veri-

fied denuclearization of North Korea,” implying a more explicit intent to disarm. The Asean Regional Forum on Saturday - including ministers from Asean and 16 other nations—could provide Ri the chance to offer North Korea’s own interpretation. “They will say that what they have agreed is to work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and what they understand by that is a series of concessions of the part of America leading to a peace agreement,” said Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra. Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

The World BusinessMirror

Japan dislodges China as world’s second biggest stock market

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hina just lost its ranking as t he world ’s No. 2 t wo stoc k market. A f ter a T hu r s d a y s lu mp, C h i n e s e equ it ies were wor t h $6.09 tr i l lion, accord ing to d ata compi led by Bloomberg. T hat compares w ith $6.17 trillion in Japan. T he US has t he world ’s l a rgest stoc k ma rket at just over $31 tr i l lion. China’s stock market overtook Japan’s in late 2014, then soared to an all-time high of more than $10 trillion in June 2015. Chinese equities and the nation’s currency have taken a beating this year, amid a trade spat with the US, a government-led campaign to cut debt and a slowing economy. “Losing the ranking to Japan is the damage caused by the trade war,” said Banny Lam, head of research at CEB International Investment Corp. in Hong Kong. “The Japan equity gauge is relatively more stable around the current level but China’s market cap has slumped from its peak this year.” The Shanghai Composite Index has lost more than 16 percent in 2018 to be among the world’s worst performers, while the yuan

has fallen 5.3 percent against the dollar. “The market will likely continue to hover at low levels for the next couple of months,” said Linus Yip, Hong Kong-based strategist with First Shanghai Securities Ltd. “But there’s still a chance that China’s stock market will recover with total capitalization ascending to the world’s No. 2 place again. After all, the economic fundamentals are still stable and growth momentum will resume after a short-term downturn.” W h i le Japa n’s benc h m a rk Topix index has declined 3.9 percent this year, it remains one of the better-performing markets in Asia, amid support from the Bank of Japan’s ETF purchases and as most companies continue to report robust earnings growth. A lmost 60 percent of firms on the gauge that have already reported in the current earnings season have beat analyst expectations. The market value calculations include primary listings only, to avoid double-counting. Hong Kong’s equities are valued at $5.1 trillion. Bloomberg News

Chinese official: US tariff threat runs against trend of the times

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EIJING—China’s foreign minister said on Thursday that US threats to hike tariffs run against the trend toward globalization and will hurt US businesses and consumers. “Well, I should point out that nowadays we live in a globalized world,” Wang Yi said while attending a regional meeting in Singapore. “We’re not doing 19th century trade,” he said. “Goods flow from one country to another along the globalized industrial value chains,” he said. “So is the United States trying to put tariffs on its own companies?” China and the US have raised tariffs on billions of dollars of each other’s goods over complaints Beijing steals or pressures foreign companies to hand over technology. Wang’s comments came after the US Trade Representative announced on Wednesday it was considering raising import duties on $200 billion of Chinese goods by 25 percent instead of the previously planned 10 percent. That reflected American frustration that Beijing retaliated by

raising its own duties on US imports in response to tariff hikes on Chinese goods over complaints the communist government steals or pressures companies to hand over technology Wang said Beijing recognizes that the US side was trying to put pressure on China. “But we don’t think such an approach will work,” he said. “We hope that the trade policy-makers in the United States will be coolheaded and listen to the voice of US consumers and pay high attention to the voice of the American business community...” he said, noting that higher tariffs will add to costs for US companies operating in China and for consumers. In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, said Beijing was open to dialogue but gave no indication about the status of possible negotiations. “Our door for dialogue is always open. But dialogue must be based on mutual respect, equality, rules and credibility,” said Geng. “Now, the US coerces and pressures others unilaterally. It will only be counterproductive. AP

Venezuela eases currency controls amid meltdown

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enezuela repealed portions of laws governing foreign exchange, enabling businesses and individuals to swap money at designated trading houses and increasing access to hard currency after more than a decade of strict controls. The changes passed by the politically omnipotent constituent assembly on Thursday are to take effect on August 20, when the government is simultaneously p l a n n i n g t o s l a s h f i v e z e ro e s o f f denominations of its near-wor thless bolivar currency. Inflation that could reach 1 million percent this year and a deep depression have forced President Nicolas Maduro to begin dismantling a Byzantine system that has left citizens desperate for food and medicine. “I don’t think it will significantly change the Venezuelan economy,” said Francisco Ibarra, director at Econometrica. The government “isn’t fully convinced of

releasing foreign exchange controls.” The government did not say at what rates it would offer to sell currencies at trading houses. In April Maduro awarded 16 exchange licenses to allow trades between the bolivar and cryptocurrencies. The late President Hugo Chavez began limiting money-changing in 2003 in a bid to stem capital fight, but in the years that followed, the exchange regime engendered widespread corruption and starved local industries of hard currency needed for imports. As dollars have dried up on official exchanges, most Venezuelans rely on a thriving black market that has created massive disparities and distortions. While greenbacks officially sell for 172,800 bolivars—the current price determined by a weekly central-bank currency auction— dollars fetch over 3.5 million bolivares on the street. Bloomberg News

Saturday, August 4, 2018

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Apple emerges as first US firm to hit $1 trillion value

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By Mark Gurman | Bloomberg

pple Inc. became the first US-based company with a market value of $1 trillion, four decades after it was cofounded by Steve Jobs in a Silicon Valley garage and later revolutionized the worlds of computing, music and mobile communications.

The consumer-technology giant briefly touched the milestone at 11.48 a.m. in New York trading on Thursday, based on share count data the company disclosed in a recent regulatory filing. PetroChina Co. briefly crossed that valuation in late 2007, but slumped quickly as oil prices collapsed in the financial crisis. Other tech giants are not far behind Apple, with Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. worth more than $800 billion each. Since its inception in 1976, Apple has consistently re-imagined what a computer can be and defined how humans interact with devices and software. The iMac desktop computer, the iPod, iPhone and iPad were smash hits, while commercial misses like the Newton and Lisa are still considered pioneering. “Steve’s vision was grounded in the synergy between hardware products, software services, and third-party apps and media to make sure any customer would have everything they need without ever leaving the Apple ecosystem,” said Tony Fadell, who worked closely with Jobs to create the iPod digital music player. “Layered on top of that business model, you had unparalleled product innovation, marketing excellence, combined with an untouchable retail experience,” Fadell added. “There isn’t another company out there that executes at Apple’s level of detail, at their fit-and-finish. This trinity established Steve’s vision and created the Apple we know today.” W hen Jobs introduced the iPhone in early 2007, its touchscreen, built-in music player, web browser and e-mail capabilities started the smartphone revolution and left competitors like Motorola and BlackBerry in the digital dust. The iPhone surpassed almost all early expectations, selling more than 1.3 billion units. It spawned the app economy, where a global army of independent developers earn a living from their software creations, while increasing the utility of the device. It’s now the

hub for a growing services business that the company hopes will pull in $50 billion in revenue a year by 2021. In the 1980s and 1990s, Apple was a very different company. Jobs left in 1985 after disagreements with then-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Sculley and the board. By 1997, the company was close to bankruptcy. Jobs returned and, with key lieutenants like design head Jony Ive and operations chief Tim Cook, saved Apple and turned it into the giant it is today. Jobs cut the number of Apple products so they could all fit on a small table, bringing a knack for whittling away extraneous offerings that weren’t up to scratch. Apple faced another crisis when Jobs died in 2011 and investors worried the company couldn’t thrive without his intense, handson product-design leadership. However, Cook has overseen the development of key new products, like the iPhone X and Apple Watch, new services like Apple Music, and research on potential new categories like self-driving cars and augmented-reality glasses. Apple was worth about $350 billion when Jobs died, so Cook has led the creation of even more stock-market value than his former boss and mentor. Bloomberg News asked him about the $1-trillion target in a February interview. “I don’t really think about it,” he said, suggesting that if the company keeps making successful products, financial success will follow. “I still view Apple as a pretty

Cook

small company, the way that we operate. I know it’s not numerically, but the way we function is very much like that.” While tapping his experience working with Jobs, and relying on the cofounder’s advice, Cook has brought his own skills and strategies to the CEO position. Jobs was a maniacal manager who focused on the smallest product components. Cook relies heavily on his suite of experienced managers. Jobs often presented nearly the entirety of Apple’s launch events, while Cook typically emcees, but hands product announcements to lieutenants like marketing head Phil Schiller, software chief Craig Federighi, and services lead Eddy Cue. “Tim and team have done a masterful job of continuing to develop Steve’s vision while bringing operational and environmental excellence to every part of Apple’s business to achieve their unheardof scale while continuing to grow unprecedented margins in the consumer electronics business,” Fadell said. Jobs was averse to debt, possibly a hangover from Apple’s nearbrush with bankruptcy. After the iPhone, profit soared and a huge cash pile grew. Cook tackled that by borrowing vast quantities of money, making Apple one of the largest corporate bond issuers. He then used some of the cash on an unprecedented program of buybacks and dividends that has returned more than $275 billion to shareholders since 2012.

Steve [Job’s] vision was grounded in the synergy between hardware products, software services, and thirdparty apps and media to make sure any customer would have everything they need without ever leaving the Apple ecosystem.”—Fadell

Cook also partly reversed Jobs’s product focus, adding wireless earphones, watches, a speaker and several versions of the iPhone. The latter move has helped the company maintain smartphone growth in an industry that’s now contracting. He also catapulted Apple into new areas of politics, tech industry policy and environmental responsibility. He has pushed suppliers to improve labor practices and battled with US authorities over user-privacy tools like encryption. “ The odds are stacked firmly against any new leader taking the CEO reins from a founder,” Fadel l sa id. “ Tim has def t ly proven otherwise.” Cook’s tenure hasn’t been without its challenges. The company faced a backlash when it replaced Google Maps on the iPhone with a buggy and unreliable Apple Maps app in 2012. It also stopped work on its own car to take on Tesla Inc., and faced criticism earlier this year when it was discovered the company throttled iPhone processing speeds to avoid shutdowns from aging batteries. Apple hit the $1-trillion milestone in the wake of a new US tax law that’s been a boon for shareholders. The company’s corporate tax rate was slashed and it’s bringing hundreds of billions of overseas dollars back to the country. Much of that money will be spent on more buybacks and dividends. Investors are also keenly awaiting a major iPhone overhaul this fall that will include the largest screen size to date and a cheaper model that includes many of the iPhone X’s features. About 11 years after launching, the device represents both the biggest opportunity and challenge for Apple and Cook. Despite surging services revenue, iPhones generated 61 percent of the company’s sales in its last fiscal year, up from 56 percent in 2014. If Apple is going to move far beyond $1 trillion, Cook has to find the right combination of future hit hardware products and new services that thrive on those devices.

World’s biggest passenger jet, the A380, starts new life

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anish tour ists bound for Cyprus got more room than they’d bargained for as the first secondhand A380 superjumbo began its new life with a trip to the Mediterranean holiday island from Copenhagen. T he A i rbu s SE pl a ne, t he world’s biggest passenger jet, was hired by Thomas Cook Group Plc. for a four-hour flight to Larnaca on Wednesday, a comparatively short hop for an aircraft that prev iously operated bet ween Singapore and far-f lung cities across the globe. The tour operator briefed startled passengers about the giant plane before they boarded, with some lucky travelers allocated

seats in the first- and businessclass cabins, though minus the gourmet meals that once accompanied the premium berths. As the first scheduled superjumbo to visit Larnaca the plane also created a stir on landing, with people jostling to snap “selfies.” The A380, registration 9HMIP, was drafted in after Thomas Cook’s Nordic arm was left without an aircraft following airport issues on the Greek island of Rhodes. The service would ordinarily use an Airbus A321 narrow-body with less than half the capacity of an A380, a model that’s popular with passengers but has struggled to win orders as airlines prefer smaller, more efficient jets.

Majorca trip

The double-decker was relocated to Copenhagen from Beja in Portugal, home base to the plane’s new operator Hi Fly, which is leasing it from owner Doric for almost six years. The 471-seat aircraft made the trip to Cyprus with just 213 people on board, though the return flight made more use of the leviathan’s capacity, carrying 396 passengers. A further flight was due to see the A380 operate from Oslo to Majorca and back on Thursday, according to Thomas Cook, which said it enlisted the jet solely as a stop-gap and avoided flagging the service on social media. “It was a one-off experience

and we do not wish to create unfulfilled expectations for future customers by making them believe it’s a more permanent part of our fleet,” it said. That suggests the Londonbased holiday group isn’t the client Hi Fly Chief Executive Officer Paulo Mirpuri said in July would lease the plane for several months. Hi Fly will likely need to find a succession of customers willing to take the superjumbo on a shortterm or seasonal basis through the life of its contract. The A380 was returned to its German owner Doric earlier this year after a decade of service with Singapore Airlines Ltd. Bloomberg News

A6 Saturday, August 4, 2018 | Editor: Mike Besa

Yangtze Dunes following swee

Ecco Cool golf shoes

Ecco Cool and Cool Pro Golf Shoes

The most comfortable waterproof golf shoes ever! E

By Mike Besa

cco is a Danish shoe company that makes some of the most comfortable shoes in the world. Its line of golf shoes is extremely well regarded in the sport and are renowned for their comfort and durability. Ecco is so passionate about its products that it processes its leather in its own tanneries to ensure the highest quality materials for its products. Its Cool and Cool Pro golf shoes are particularly relevant for us during the Philippines’s wet season. They are breathable and completely waterproof, owing to an inner layer of GoreTex. The Gore-Tex membrane is an extremely thin layer of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE). It has over 9 billion pores per square inch. It’s these pores that give the Gore-Tex fabric its marvelous characteristics. The pores are so small that water cannot seep through. At the same time, the pores are large enough to allow air to circulate, thus allowing for an extremely waterproof shoe that allows your feet to breathe, assuring the comfort of the wearer. Ecco builds its soles in a unique fashion. Some three decades ago Ecco created a process called Fluidform Technology. Fluidform is a technology that enables Ecco to create ergonomically advanced soles. By injecting a resilient, shock-absorbent material directly into the shoe mold, Ecco bonds the sole to the upper instantly and seamlessly, without the compromises common with glued or stitched assemblies. The result is a reliable and durable union between the upper and the sole unit, which offers a finely tuned balance of cushioning and rebound. The Ecco Cool golf shoe features slim lock soft spikes on the outsole for maximum traction and stability in the most adverse conditions, while the Ecco Cool Pro features the Ecco Spyder-Grip performance traction system outsole which is optimized for oncourse use by creating naturally placed pivot points that provide a strong foundation from backswing to follow-through.

At the onset of our rainy season, I picked up a pair of Ecco Cool shoes in the gorgeous white Dritton leather uppers. They are a gorgeous piece of work. They were put through a baptism of fire in two tournaments in the wettest conditions that I’ve played in all year. They performed flawlessly. They are incredibly comfortable shoes. Fresh out of the box, they feel like they are incredibly comfortable; there is no break-in period required. Even when the weather was at its worst, my feet were dry. I’ve worn other waterproof shoes that don’t allow the level of breathability and comfort that are found here. My feet would get so hot during the round that I couldn’t wait to take the shoes off at the end of the round. There was none of that with the Ecco Cool golf shoe. I have nothing but praise for the way that they performed. They say that your golf shoes are the most important bit of kit that you can buy. They are the only piece of equipment that you use every second that you are on the golf course. Their efficiency or lack of it can make a huge difference in your on-course experience. This is where Ecco shines. Yes, Ecco shoes are pricey, and the Ecco Cool and Cool Pro are some of the priciest shoes in the line, but they are worth the price of admission.

Making Sense of Titleist’s Line of Irons

The Big T’s best ever! Y

The Ecco Cool golf shoes working hard in their natural environment.

ou have to admire a company like Titleist. No company in golf is more dedicated to elite and aspirational golfers. It has pursued that market segment relentlessly, regardless of what the rest of the golf industry is doing. As a result, they are sometimes a bit slow to adapt new technologies, taking more time to properly evaluate the developments and how to properly integrate them into their product line, keeping sight of the preferences of its core users. The new 718 irons are a perfect example. In the last five years, manufacturing techniques have improved sufficiently to allow the use of multiple materials in iron heads to maximize performance and ease of use. The surge in popularity of the hollow-bodied iron has given engineers even more latitude with CG location resulting in increased performance. Using these technologies judiciously in the service of the better golfer is a Titleist hallmark. The changes to the line this year focused on forgiveness and finding additional ball speed with each iron. What is most impressive is the attention to detail and the commitment to get every club exactly as its customers demand. This year there are six different models in the Titleist 718 line of irons. That might seem like a huge number, but they meet the needs of different golfing demographics. The brief for this redesign was to build increased ball speed across the clubface across the line. Since the huge bulk of their sales will be the AP series, let’s start there. The AP1 has always been the game improvement club in Titleist’s iron line. It’s designed for maximum distance and ball speed. The 718 AP1 looks a Titleist AP Family lot sleeker, less like a shovel and more like a real player’s club. There’s still a bit of offset; the most of any of Titleist’s irons this year, and a fairly healthy topline. The long irons are now hollow constructs, while the mid and short irons remain undercut cavity backs. Each iron is unique and features a center of gravity located uniquely in each iron to create the correct trajectories. The thin, unsupported faces of the long irons create high ball speeds for greater distance. High-density tungsten weighting produces a lower CG for higher launch with shot-stopping control. The high-MOI design—with an average of 58.5 grams of tungsten per head, placed low and in the toe of the long and mid irons—produces higher ball speeds across the face for more consistent distance on off-center hits. The leading edge of the AP1 (and indeed, all the 718 irons) has been pre-worn to aid turf interaction. The AP1 is a distance iron that looks and feels like a player’s club. Improving the AP2 irons was a delicate exercise. The AP2 has become Titleist’s best-selling iron and has a significant following on the professional tours, as well as the retail market. Its patrons were adamant that the look remain the same but weren’t averse to having a little more performance and forgiveness built into it. Titleist used a new co-forging process to integrate and precisely position high-density tungsten weights in each AP2 iron to add ease of use without compromising playability. A thinner forged body and face insert constructed of high-strength spring steel increases launch and ball speed for more distance. An improved CG progression, with a lower and more centered CG in the long irons, improves speed performance on off-center hits for precise distance control. The faster, lighter face also freed up more discretionary weight and the 718 AP2 uses more tungsten than ever before, making this the most forgiving AP2 ever. All this without compromising the feel and distance control so coveted by better players everywhere. The AP3 is the new kid on the block. With the AP3, Titleist wanted to combine the best attributes of its two best-selling irons; the AP1 and AP2. They wanted the distance and ease of use of the AP1 combined with the consistency and feel of the AP2. Even the nomenclature shows this—AP1+AP2=AP3. The AP3 looks like a slightly bigger AP2. If you weren’t paying attention, it would be easy to mistake one for the other from address, although a closer look reveals the AP3 has a slightly thicker topline and a touch more offset. Call it a player’s distance iron—perfect for the better player that wants or needs more length through the set. An innovative hollow-blade design with high-speed face technology, the AP3 is Titleist’s the longest, fastest Titleist player’s iron ever. The hollow construction uses a thin, unsupported, high-strength steel face for the fastest

ball speeds. High-density tungsten (an average of 84.9 grams per head) strategically located in each clubhead provides the off-center distance performance of a game improvement iron. All with the look and feel of a better player’s club. This could become Titleist’s best-selling iron yet. Titleist’s technological tour de force is the 718 T-MB. The T-MB started life as a driving iron, but players were so enamored with its performance and forgiveness that Titleist decided to build a full set of them. The 718 T-MB has grown into a full set of uniquely designed irons that deliver effortless distance at every loft in a technical, muscle-back shape. Initially developed as a high launching, player’s long iron, the hollow-body, multimaterial design of T-MB produces a powerful combination of high launch and forgiveness with a playable trajectory. It differs from its 716 cousin with the use of even more tungsten (an average of 93.9 grams per clubhead), making it more approachable than ever without the loss of performance. Titleist T-MB beauty shot

The MB and CB are two of the core irons in the Titleist line and are held in such Titleist 718 CB high regard by elite golfers that it would have been easy to slap the new badge Titleist 718 MB on them and call it a day. But that isn’t the Titleist way. Both are forged from 1025 carbon steel but that’s where the similarities end. The CB is now as hightech as a forging can get. Co-forging technology has allowed the use of high-density tungsten to be positioned in each clubhead. This creates higher ball speeds across the clubface on off-center hits without compromising the butter-soft feel at impact and the tour-preferred trajectories with each iron. Even the MB, the traditional muscleback blade, wasn’t overlooked. The center of gravity of each clubhead was more precisely located high and behind the club’s sweet spot. This guarantees consistent launch trajectories and ball flights from club to club. Each MB iron is forged from a single block of steel for the butter-soft feel that all good players covet. Titleist’s shaft options are among the best in the industry and this year feature True Temper’s new Ascending Mass Technology (AMT) shafts which feature lighter shafts in the long irons and heavier ones in the short irons and wedges. MRC Tensei Rec AMC (Ascending Mass Concept), Nippon Steel and Project X round out shaft offerings. The Titleist 718 irons are now available at Empire Golf Shops everywhere. An appointment for a proper fitting will guarantee the best results. Mike Besa

www.pinoygolfer.com | Saturday, August 4, 2018 A7

s reopens near Shanghai eping O.C.C.M. renovation C

HONGMING ISLAND, Shanghai, P.R.C.—Yangtze Dunes, the newly renovated links course here at 36-hole Lanhai International Country Club, reopened to member play on June 23, following a farreaching, 12-month renovation directed by Melbourne, Australia-based Ogilvy, Clayton, Cocking & Mead (OCCM). The renovated 18 reopened as a walkingonly course, a rare renovation decision (exceedingly rare in Asia) that necessitated the removal of some 8 km of concrete cart paths. “Our members were onboard with these changes from the beginning—they understood that a traditional links is best enjoyed on foot, with caddies,” said Jay Porter, general manager at Lanhai International CC. “They were ready for that aspect; it was honestly not that controversial. “What they weren’t ready for was just how good, how unique the new course has revealed itself to be. They’re over the moon about what OCCM has created here. The new 18 holes at Yangtze Dunes course are still quite young, still growing into maturity. But the members love it because it’s unlike anything in Shanghai, anything in China—anything in Asia, frankly. The walking-only aspect is but a small aspect of the transformation that has taken place here.” Located on Chongming, an island in the

Yangtze River delta, Lanhai International CC was founded in 2009. It quickly took its place among the top clubs in Asia on the strength of its 36 holes (including the Woodlands Course, a Nicklaus design), its elegant Tuscan-style clubhouse and a distinguished membership drawn from nearby Shanghai. In late 2016, new club ownership commissioned OCCM (www.occmgolf.com)— whose partners include touring professional Geoff Ogilvy, 2006 US Open Champion—to create a golfing experience that would stand alongside the world’s best. “The mere fact that we’ve created a true links track at Yangtze Dunes makes it stand out from nearly every golf course that currently exists in Asia,” said Ashley Mead, the OCCM partner who directed renovation activities here on Chongming. “For whatever reason—cultural or climatic—Asian developers have not chosen to build many courses in the links tradition. “As a firm, we’re deeply committed to designing golf courses that represent the local environment. And here’s a relevant fact: Chongming is the largest alluvial island in the world—alluvial being a fancy way of describing sand islands formed by river currents. So, we’re in China, on a giant sand bar in the middle of the mighty Yangtze River, just northeast of Shanghai, in the shadow of the towering Yangtze River Bridge. This

site was crying out for a full-on links and we’re very pleased Yangtze Dunes so strongly accentuates this place and culture.” OCCM also pushed and ultimately gained approval for the creation of a sprawling, flamboyantly contoured putting course to replace an auxiliary practice green that once sat between the 1st tee and 18th green. The Chuiwan Course drew its inspiration not from the Himalayas at Saint Andrews, nor the Punchbowl at Bandon Dunes, but the ancient Chinese game of the same name. Chuiwan was first mentioned in the book Dongxuan Lu, written by Wei Tai in the late 10th century, during the Song dynasty. The game remained a favorite of the nobility through the Yuan (1206-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. The rules are remarkably similar to that of modern golf: Players use a set of up to 10 clubs; wooden balls are driven across varying terrain toward (and ultimately into) holes festooned with colored flags. “Some Chinese scholars have advanced the idea that perhaps chuiwan was taken across Asia during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty—to Scotland eventually, which explains the emergence of golf there. I think that remains open to interpretation,” said Porter. “But the Chinese people do reserve a special sort of respect and admiration for their ancestors. This was a game they clearly

played, centuries ago. The Chuiwan Course will provide our members the opportunity to regularly pay homage to this ancestral, thoroughly Chinese game in a really fun way.” The profile and ambitions of Lanhai International were raised considerably following its purchase by the Ping An Group in 2016. Founded in 1988 as an insurance specialist (it was China’s first joint stock insurance company), Ping An stands today as a fully integrated, compact, multifunctional financial services group whose core activities center on insurance, banking and investment. At the close of September 2017, the group boasted more than 1.7 million employees serving 153 million individual customers. The team Ping An has assembled at Lanhai International is headed by the American Porter, formerly the GM at storied Merion GC in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. Course construction activities, just completed, were led by The Forward Group (www.ForwardGolf. com.cn/en), China’s leading course building and club management firm. Forward collaborates at Lanhai on the club operations side with US-based Landscapes Unlimited (www.LandscapesUnlimited.com), a club management specialist with more than 50 facilities in its operations portfolio worldwide. Ownership/s most significant hire may well have been OCCM: As a quartet of Australians, born and bred, OCCM have

naturally toiled a great deal in their native country. Their recent 36-hole redesign at Peninsula Kingswood catapulted the club into Melbourne’s elite Sand Belt cohort. Down the road at venerable Kingston Heath, the firm’s long-standing consultation recently produced a stunning new 19th hole. And though OCCM has authored more extensive, similarly celebrated renovations all over the country—at Victoria GC, Commonwealth, Royal Canberra, The Lakes in Sydney, and Lake Karrinyup (home to a European Tour event near Perth)—Mead sees very little at Yangtze Dunes that he would call “Australian” or even “Australia-inspired.” “For us, no matter where we’re working, it’s all about tying the design back to the natural landscape,” Mead explained. “We actually went around to several traditional parks, old villages and gardens in the Shanghai area to get a better feel for this. We visited some lovely natural wetlands just around the corner from the golf course, on Chongming Island itself, to gather cues on the vegetation front. The terrain, vegetation and immediate environment here just don’t recall any Australian environment we’ve seen or worked in. “I doubt very much many golf courses have ever been built in this sort of environment, full stop, especially here in Asia. Which helps explain why Yangtze Dunes is so special.”

OurTime

A8 Saturday, August 4, 2018 • Editor: Efleda P. Campos

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Retired soldier, 88, visits Singapore

ALEX de la Peña (on wheelchair) with nephew Steven and nieces Efleda and Chona infront of a man-made waterfall in one of Singapore’s theme parks

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By Efleda P. Campos | Senior Editor Photos by Chona de Guzman

HE aging soldier was gung ho. He was ready to fly to Singapore where one of his nieces lives with her expatriate husband. Alex de la Peña, 88, a retired captain of the Philippine Army, was going abroad for the first time in 45 years. His last trip outside the Philippines was in 1973 for a business trip to Hong Kong. Two years before that, he was in Vietnam as a civilian instructor teaching South Vietnamese soldiers how to repair photographic equipment. My uncle served in the Armed Forces of the Philippines as a photographer and was a member of the Army’s Signal Corps. He is the only surviving sibling of my late mother. We, his nieces and nephews, have always considered him our second father. For the past two years, my cousin Chit and her husband Steven have tried their best to convince Uncle Alex to fly out to Singapore for a visit. Uncle Alex has demurred for the past two years, saying he is too old to travel. I retired last February, not knowing at that time whether I was going to continue working and if I would be retained as a consultant. Plans were made for me to accompany Uncle Alex to Singapore for what Steven said was a visit “for as long as we wanted.”Visitors from around Southeast Asia can visit Singapore for 30 days and extend for another 30 days without needing a visa. But first, we had to update uncle’s passport, which he never renewed after that long-ago trip to Hong Kong. From San Mateo, Rizal, where he lived, he went to the satellite office of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Cubao, Quezon City, several times, and was very frustrated because, despite all the documentary proof he brought with him, the two male staff there would not renew his passport. My cousin Chona got wind of the plan and expressed her desire to fly out to Singapore, the first country she would visit abroad. She had a scheduled appointment at the DFA in Antipolo, courtesy of her local politician representative, so having a passport was not going to be a problem. I volunteered to give Chona my seat to Singapore, since I had been

to that country at least four times previously. Steven said he would fly the three of us together. We scheduled a morning to go to the DFA office in Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay City where passport processing for seniors was available Monday to Wednesday on a walk-in basis. Uncle had with him a certification from the Philippine Statistics Authority of “no record of birth”(any person born in the Philippines before 1952 has no official birth record because records were burned during World War II, and the government only started rebuilding its database in 1952); his old passport; his senior, veteran’s and postal identification cards; and a copy of an affidavit from the midwife who helped deliv-

IN front of the miniature Ganges River in the River Safari

THE retired soldier feeds a bird at the Jurong Bird Park

GETTING up close and personal with Singapore’s iconic Merlion at Sentosa

er him in 1930 and a neighbor who witnessed his birth almost 90 years ago. (Of course, the two witnesses have long passed on.) Uncle paid LBC P150 to deliver his new passport to his home a week after processing. Uncle, Chona and I flew to Singapore via Philippine Airlines on July 19. Manang Chit and Steven were at the Changi Airport to meet us. Steven had a wheelchair ready for uncle, renting it from a company called Bion for $3 (Singapore) a day. During our nine-day visit, the five of us went to places in Singapore, including Sentosa,whereUncleAlexhadaclose-up encounterwiththeMerlion,Singapore’s signature icon, half-lion, half-fish; Chinatown; Little India; the Night Safari; Bird Park; River Safari; Singapore Zoo; and the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest in the Gardens by the Bay. Like most tourists, uncle no longer lugged his bulky cameras, but used his cell phones to take pictures of his visit. He traveled lightly, carrying only basic necessities during our nine-day stay in Singapore. Both Manang Chit and Steven prepared well for our visit. Manang Chit was careful with what she served uncle and me; we are both diabetics. We ate healthy, eating fresh fruits like raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and cherries plus smoothies for

breakfast. Though expensive, these fruits are available in most groceries in Singapore. We had either brown rice or quinoa for lunch and dinner, with plenty of home-cooked vegetables and some chicken or pork. Their Filipina kasambahay Cynthia did most house chores, including feeding the couple’s three cats. Steven was out early mornings or evenings, buying what we needed, including a querty Nokia cell phone for uncle and sugar-free cookies we have a hard time finding back home. Manang Chit and Cynthia took turns going to the grocery or the “wet” market whenever some items needed replenishing. Chona often volunteered to go out with them. We went out daily, riding on trains and buses, but mostly on taxis driven by locals because of the wheelchair uncle used. We took turns pushing his wheelchair. Uncle could walk—even faster than I—but he tired easily. The train system remains impressive —modern, on time and guaranteed to take you anywhere in Singapore, within walking distance from each station. Trains run before dawn and end their service by midnight. Public buses run on time, on similar hours like the train, even if there are no passengers. Malls have working escalators and elevators, helping even the elderly get to where they want to be, whether they are walking or are navigating their way on wheelchairs. High-end retail stores, pharmacies, restaurants, medical clinics and all sorts of establishments one finds in developed countries are mostly accessible from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Everywhere, one sees trees, keeping open spaces green and naturally oxygenated—a result of the excellent planning of the city-state’s fathers who planted the whole area with fastgrowing trees and flora when the citystate was founded 52 years ago. Everywhere, too, the melding of cultures is evident—from the architecture of houses, to ethnic restaurants, to the people walking along its most crowded streets. Singapore is mainly populated by Chinese, Malaysians and Indians, with a sprinkling of foreigners, including North Americans, South and Central Americans, Europeans and, of course, Filipinos. The government provides the basic needs of its citizens, including public housing and transportation. Only citizens can own their own homes. Permanent residents can lease private houses, but cannot own real estate. Lee Kwan Yew is credited with leading Singapore into becoming the progressive city-state it is today. The government demands nationalism and discipline among its citizens. It has stringent laws that ensure these, and maintains little reminders of Singapore’s past, lest its citizens forget the hard path the country and its citizens took on their way to progress. There is a museum in Chinatown featuring a multistory apartment complex reflecting the miserable living conditions of immigrants from China at the turn of the 20th century. And it maintains a war memorial reminding the locals, as well as visitors of the horrors of World War II perpetrated by an invading Japanese Imperial Army. People say you can explore Singapore—all 719.9 kilometers of it—in a week. I disagree. In 2008 I spent a whole month in Singapore, visiting places every day, but still missed seeing several spots and doing other exploratory activities. Filipinos are known to revere their elders, and our visit to Singapore underscored to us this special Filipino trait. When lining up to enter a venue or get a taxi for our ride back home, Uncle, along with three of us (only four passengers are allowed to ride together in a cab), was put ahead in queues not because he is an older person, but because he was in a wheelchair.

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Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

Saturday, August 4, 2018 A9

GLOBE POSTPAID SUBS GET FREE 6 MONTHS DISNEYLIFE ACCESS

DISNEY fans, rejoice! With the newly launched DisneyLife app, over 350 movies from Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars; more than 5,000 kids’ TV episodes; and over 6,000 music tracks are now accessible anytime. Exclusive DisneyLife promos await Globe Postpaid customers. Existing Postpaid customers and new and recontracting customers on ThePlan or ThePlan Plus 999 and above get a free six-month subscription. Meanwhile, new and existing Globe At Home Postpaid customers who applied or upgraded to Plan 1299 and up also get a free six-month subscription. An additional free threemonth subscription will be given to customers who purchase Globe Streamwatch Roku Powered. Apart from these offerings, Globe now offers its mobile customers DisneyLife for a monthly subscription of P149. They can just text DLIFE149 to 8080. With each subscription, customers can create six accounts, register up to 10 gadgets and use the DisneyLife app simultaneously across four devices. The DisneyLife app is compatible with iOS and Android devices, and is also available to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. For information, visit www.disneylife.ph.

XIAOMI BRINGS IN FLAGSHIP MI 8, NEW ENTRY-LEVEL OFFERINGS

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THE Xiaomi Mi 8

GLOBAL technology leader Xiaomi officially launched three exciting smartphones in the Philippines: its latest flagship delivering top-notch photography, the Mi 8, and the smooth and power-efficient entry-level kings, Redmi 6/6A. The Mi 8 brings the best Xiaomi smartphone camera ever. With a 12MP dual AI camera, Mi 8 received a 105 photo score from the respected camera benchmark organization DxOMark. On the front, Mi 8 sports a 20MP camera that uses pixel binning technology to combine information from four pixels to create one large 1.8µm pixel for clearer photos in low light. Powered by the red-hot Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, Mi 8 offers stunning performance justified by an AnTuTu score of more than 30,000. Mi 8 is also the first phone in the world to have dual frequency GPS that offers extremely accurate navigation. Mi 8 features a four-sided curved glass back panel, aviation-grade aluminum frame and a 2.5D glass screen. It sports a 6.21-inch FHD+ Samsung AMOLED full screen display with an 18.7:9 aspect ratio and 86.68 percent screento-body ratio. Mi 8 will be available on August 3. The 6GB/64GB version of Mi 8 comes with a price tag of P25,990. The 6GB/128GB version will be available at P27,990. Meanwhile, the Redmi 6 has a 5.45-inch 18:9 display with a screen-to-body ratio of 80.5 percent. It sports the latest MediaTek Helio P22 SoC. Its octa-core CPU is built on 12nm process and consumes about 48 percent less power than comparable 28nm chipsets. Its 3000 mAh high capacity battery allows the phone to stay in standby mode for up to 19 days. It has a 12MP+5MP dual camera set up with the main sensor having a 1.25µm large pixels—the largest among popular smartphones in this price range. The 5MP front camera of Redmi 6 is supported by Xiaomi’s AI Portrait mode, which renders a realistic bokeh effect with a single lens. Meanwhile, the Redmi 6A offers great value as it adopts the same body and screen as Redmi 6 and sports the MediaTek Helio A22 SoC that is also built on the 12nm process. Redmi 6A has a 3000mAh battery allows the phone to stay in standby mode for up to 19 days, a 13MP rear camera featuring phase detection autofocus. and a 5MP front camera—both capable of using Xiaomi’s AI Portrait mode. The Redmi 6 is priced starting at P7,490, while the 6A is priced starting at P5,290.

LILIA (right), 60, learned how to take selfies and what finger hearts are.

Why ‘millenniors’ like Facebook PRIMETIME

DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ @dinnachanvasquez luckydinna@gmail.com

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OMETIMES, we’re impatient with old people. Many of us are guilty of that. But just think, if we took a few minutes to teach them how to use a smartphone or a tablet, wouldn’t life be easier for them—and for us? They could hail a car via Grab and have food delivered via those delivery apps. But you know what they really love more than any other app? Facebook! They love Facebook because it allows them to keep in touch with old classmates and friends and relatives. My mother’s life hasn’t been the same since she learned how to navigate the Internet. Her knowledge is still very limited but she can, at least, do Facebook, Instagram and Google. I wish she could learn how to book rides via Grab because it would make it easier for her to go around. Studies have shown that the elderly are prone to feelings of loneliness and isolation, and Internet use can help keep depression at bay. “It all has to do with older persons being able to communicate, to stay in contact with their social networks, and not just feel lonely,” said Sheila Cotton, a Michigan State University professor who led one such research project. Lilia Cos, 60, and Wiseña Relente, 57, recently

completed—and topped—a short course from which they emerged as the most social-media savvy seniors. Both residents of Barangay 672 of Paco, Manila, the women belong to the latest batch of graduates of the Smart “Millenniors” program that enables the elderly to keep in step with technology. The seniors learned to use smartphones and mobile data, open a Facebook account, take selfies and upload them. Their teachers were millennials who are students of Adamson University; hence the name of the program. Millennior Lilia is the batch “valedictorian.” She lamented that she is the only one among her siblings who can’t visit the family home in Bulacan regularly, due to the cost and effort of travel. Those overseas have been there more often. Thanks to Facebook, even her siblings in Japan and Germany no longer seem so far away. “Finally, we’re talking! I haven’t seen you in a long time,” one of them exclaimed on their first contact. Lilia also gets to keep in touch with friends in Laguna and Cavite through Facebook Messenger. Wiseña discovered a way to escape from her daily routine. When she’s done with her chores, she doesn’t just put her feet up. She watches videos on YouTube, particularly her favorite telenovela. “It takes my stress away,” said Wiseña, who is subscribed to Smart’s an-hour-a-day Free YouTube promo. “I think seniors often feel left out. Usually, their grandchildren are constantly on their phones, hardly talking to them,” said Marielle Tuazon, one of the Adamson students. Lilia’s mentor, Kathryne Alexandra Quel, admired her ward’s determination. “She continued to explore her smartphone even outside of our sessions together,” said Kathryne. After learning to make a video call and join a group chat,

Lilia went on nightly video calls with her siblings abroad. She wants to learn more. For Jhontrix Catorce, another trainer, the best part was helping the seniors to express to their loved ones how they feel. “I want to teach this to my parents as well,” he said. Lilia finds Facebook to be the ideal place for expressing one’s feelings. “I like that Facebook asks me, ‘What’s on your mind?’ and I can use those hugot lines,” she said. “I also like posting Facebook statuses because of the reactions I get.” “At first, I used to be just a ‘lurker’ in our family group chat, not understanding fully how it worked,” said Lilia. “Once, my granddaughter called me out for repeatedly using winking emojis: ‘You might strain your eye with all that winking!’” she recalled, laughing. The seniors of Barangay 672 are the second batch of Smart Millenniors from Manila, the first being those from Barangay 734, also in Paco. In May Smart brought the program to Cebu, for members of the Philippine Association of Retired Persons, in cooperation with EduStudio and Coalition for Better Education. In Iligan City the program was held in barangays Dalipuga and Santiago, with volunteers from MSU-IIT School of Computer Studies. For promoting the teaching of technology among seniors and engaging the youth in this endeavor, the Smart Millenniors program won an Award of Merit at the recent 16th Philippine Quill Awards, and a Silver Anvil at the 53rd Anvil Awards in March. “We are getting closer to our goal of making thr Internet truly for all, as more seniors participate in the Smart Millenniors program,” said Smart Public Affairs Head Ramon Isberto. “As the world becomes increasingly digital, we are working to make sure that nobody gets left behind.” ■

To repair reputation, Twitter, Facebook incur investor wrath BY BARBARA ORTUTAY The Associated Press NEW YORK—Two of the biggest social-media platforms lost nearly one-fifth of their market value after reporting disappointing user growth. Twitter’s stock plunged on Friday after it reported a decline in its monthly users and warned that the number could fall further in the coming months. The 20.5-percent plunge came one day after Facebook lost 19 percent of its value in a single day. Twitter says it’s putting the long-term stability of its platform above user growth. That leaves investors seemingly unable to value what the biggest companies in the sector, which rely on their potential user reach, are worth. On Wednesday Facebook warned that its revenue growth will slow down significantly for at least the remainder of the year and that expenses will continue to skyrocket. The next day, the company saw its biggest one-day drop Facebook history, Facebook continues to grapple with big existential questions, ranging from its users’ privacy to tech addiction to how it deals with fake news and misinformation, hate speech and extremism on its service. Both the slower growth forecast and heavier spending reflect problems largely of Facebook’s own making.

Twitter had 335 million monthly users in the quarter, below the 339 million Wall Street was expecting, and down slightly from 336 million in the first quarter. That overshadowed strong monthly user growth of 3 percent compared with the previous year. The company said its monthly user number could continue to fall in the “mid-single-digit millions” in the third quarter. While Friday was Twitter’s second-worst loss since it went public in November 2013, the stock has still doubled in value over the last 12 months. Long criticized for allowing bad behavior to run rampant on its platform, Twitter has begun to crack down, banning accounts that violate its terms and making others less visible. Twitter is now attempting to rein in the worst offenders after years as one of the Wild West corners of the Internet. At the same time, it must convince people it’s the go-to platform in social media, even though it is dwarfed right now by Facebook. Twitter on Friday reiterated its efforts to “to invest in improving the health of the public conversation” on its platform, making the “long-term health” of its service a priority over short-term metrics such as user numbers. As part of these efforts, Twitter said that as of May, its systems identified and challenged more than 9 million accounts per week that are potentially spam or automated,

up from 6.4 million in December 2017. The company has previously disclosed these numbers. A Washington Post report put the total number of suspended accounts in May and June at 70 million. The Associated Press also found that Twitter suspended 56 million such accounts in the last quarter of 2017. While Twitter maintains that most of these accounts were dormant and thus not counted in the monthly user figure, the company also warned that its cleanup efforts could affect its counted user base without giving specific numbers. “We want people to feel safe freely expressing themselves and have launched new tools to address problem behaviors that distort and distract from the public conversation,” CEO Jack Dorsey said in a prepared statement. Twitter’s market value dropped by more than $6 billion on Friday, to around $26 billion. Investors still value Facebook at $503 billion. Facebook lost $119 billion in value on Thursday. Twitter’s second-quarter net income hit $100.1 million, after a loss last year during the same period. It’s the company’s third profit in a row, the third it has ever posted. Per-share, the San Francisco company’s net income was 13 cents, or 17 cents adjusted, in line with expectations, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research. Revenue of $710.5 million, up 24 percent and edging out expectations of $696 million.

A10 Saturday, August 4, 2018

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Bad week in social media gets worse; Twitter hammered

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BY BARBARA ORTUTAY The Associated Press

EW YORK—Cracking down on hate, abuse and online trolls is also hurting Twitter’s standing with investors. The company’s stock plunged on Friday after it reported a decline in its monthly users and warned that the number could fall further in the coming months. The 20.5-percent plunge comes one day after Facebook lost 19 percent of its value in a single day. Twitter says it’s putting the long-term stability of its platform above user growth. That leaves investors seemingly unable to value what the biggest companies in the sector, which rely on their potential user reach, are worth. Twitter had 335 million monthly users in the quarter, below the 339 million Wall Street was expecting, and down slightly from 336 million in the first quarter. That overshadowed a strong monthly user growth of 3 percent compared with the previous year. The company said its monthly user number could continue to fall in the “mid-single-digit millions” in the third quarter. While Friday was Twitter’s second-worst loss since it went public in November 2013, the stock has still doubled in value over the last 12 months. Long criticized for allowing bad behavior to run rampant on its platform, Twitter has begun to crack down, banning accounts that violate its terms and making others less visible. Twitter is now attempting to rein in the worst offenders after years as one of the Wild West corners of the internet. At the same time, it must convince people it’s the go-to platform in social media, even though it is dwarfed right now by Facebook. Facebook has more than 2.23 billion users, while its apps WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger each have over 1 billion. Twitter on Friday reiterated its efforts to “to invest in improving the health of the public conversation” on its platform, making the “long-term health” of its service a priority over shortterm metrics such as user numbers. As part of these efforts, Twitter said that as of May, its systems identified and challenged more

THE Instructure team (from left): Troy Martin, Colt Kwong, Debbie Thompson, Barrett Doran, Julian Yballe and Faith Chaza.

EDUCATION TRAILBLAZERS COLLABORATE AT INAUGURAL PHILIPPINES CANVAS L.M.S. USER GROUP

than 9 million accounts per week that are potentially spam or automated, up from 6.4 million in December 2017. The company has previously disclosed these numbers. A Washington Post report put the total number of suspended accounts in May and June at 70 million. The Associated Press also found that Twitter suspended 56 million such accounts in the last quarter of 2017. While Twitter maintains that most of these accounts were dormant and thus not counted in the monthly user figure, the company also warned that its cleanup efforts could affect its counted user base without giving specific numbers. “We want people to feel safe freely expressing themselves and have launched new tools to address problem behaviors that distort and distract from

the public conversation,” CEO Jack Dorsey said in a prepared statement. Twitter’s market value dropped by more than $6 billion on Friday, to around $26 billion. Investors still value Facebook at $503 billion. Facebook lost $119 billion in value on Thursday. Twitter’s second-quarter net income hit $100.1 million, after a loss last year during the same period. It’s the company’s third profit in a row, the third it has ever posted. Per-share, the San Francisco company’s net income was 13 cents, or 17 cents adjusted, in line with expectations, according to a poll by Zacks Investment Research. Revenue of $710.5 million, up 24 percent and edging out expectations of $696 million. ■

Sony’s new shooter with world’s fastest AF speed A WORLDWIDE leader in digital imaging and the world’s largest image sensor manufacturer, Sony has announced another exciting model for their popular Cyber-shot RX100 series of compact cameras, the RX100 VI. The innovative new camera is the first of all the RX100 models to include a high magnification zoom lens, as it packs in an impressive ZEISS Vario-Sonnar T 24-200mm F2.8 – F4.5 lens, yet doesn’t sacrifice the pocket-size portability, fast responsiveness and high image quality that has become the hallmark of Sony’s RX100 lineup. Its extensive zoom, impressive image quality and versatility for both still images and video make it an ideal choice for capturing daily life, cityscapes, portraiture, sports, wildlife and everything in between. The new model is equipped with a 20.1 MP 1.0-type

stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor with DRAM chip and an upgraded BIONZ X image processing system with a front-end LSI that maximizes processing speed and optimizes image quality in all shooting environments. Additionally, the RX100 VI features an incredibly efficient Fast Hybrid AF system with 315-point phase-detection AF points on the sensor that can acquire focus in as little as 0.03 seconds, the world’s fastest AF acquisition time for 1.0-type sensor cameras. It can also shoot at up to 24 fps at full resolution with continuous AF/AE tracking and produces beautiful 4K video with full pixel readout and no pixel binning. The new Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VI compact camera will be available in Sony centers and authorized Sony dealers on August 4. For information, visit www.sony.com.ph.

RECENTLY, Canvas held its first community user group in the Philippines at the De La Salle University Henry Sy Sr. Hall. The meeting connected the first Canvas customers in the Philippines to discuss their use of education technology to transform education provision in their institutions. Principals and senior leadership from Baliuag University, University of the East, Jose Rizal University, De La Salle Lipa, Centro Escolar University and other schools were present, such as the host College of Computer Studies department at De La Salle University and EdTech leadership from Far Eastern University. Technology has allowed other industries to compete globally and education is no different, with each institution sharing their strategic visions of how they can and will use education technology to enhance teaching and learning as well as compete for students in the region. Through their use of the Learning Management System Canvas, each of these Philippine institutions are deepening their adoption of the latest innovations in teaching and learning, such as blended and flipped classrooms, which allows for greater focus on student engagement and personalized learning. Roselle Basa, program coordinator for ICT at UE, was among the attendees who were new to Canvas. UE faculty have been training with the LMS since March, and the system will be deployed in full this year. “Canvas allows us to develop courses that are geared to student-centered strategies. It pushes the envelope of teaching strategies development and helps us avoid being confined to the classroom in a very enjoyable and engaging manner,” Basa said. Canvas from Instructure was created in response to poor user experience of legacy LMS software by its founders as graduate students. They wanted a more flexible and personalized learning experience, one that was mobile and easy to use, and extends with a wide variety of learning resources. As an open, mobile and native cloud-based platform, Canvas allows students to easily access learning materials, take online tests, collaborate on the move and drive their own learning journey. Teachers are able to deliver more personalized learning, choose from a wealth of learning resources to deliver a richer learning experience, grade tests more quickly, as well as use data in real time to give feedback on student progress. This approach puts teachers and students at the center of the learning environment rather than the technology. What’s next on the road map for Canvas? Apac Vice President Troy Martin spoke of the company’s expansion plans in a post-conference interview. “We’re excited with the customers that have emerged over the last two years in the Philippines, particularly here in Manila, but we are excited to welcome some new institutions from Cebu City and we look forward to hearing from new institutions contacting Instructure about working with Canvas.”

Samsung Electronics misses forecast on lower phone sales BY YOUKYUNG LEE The Associated Press

EMPLOYEES walk past a logo of the Samsung Electronics Co. at its office in Seoul, South Korea, on July 31. Samsung said on Tuesday its second-quarter earnings rose 2 percent over a year earlier, missing expectations due to sales of smartphones and display panels that offset robust memory chip sales. AP

SEOUL, South Korea—Samsung Electronics Co. reported a lower-than-expected gain in the secondquarter earnings on Tuesday, indicating an end to its streak of record-breaking financial results as sales of smartphones and display panels slowed while memory chip profit stabilized. The South Korean tech giant said that its April to June net income stood at 10.98 trillion won ($9.8 billion), up 2 percent, from 10.80 trillion won a year earlier. The result fell short of the analyst consensus of 11.14 trillion won, according to financial data provider FactSet. Sales fell 4 percent to 58.48 trillion won ($52.3 billion) while operating income advanced 6 percent to 14.87 trillion won ($13.3 billion), in line with its earnings preview earlier this month. The latest results indicate an end to Samsung’s streak of record-breaking financial results that stunned investors. Samsung, the world’s largest

maker of memory chips, smartphones and display panels, reported explosive profit growth in 2017, driven by an unprecedented boom in memory chip business. The profit growth in the memory chip business began to stabilize this year but it is still the lion’s share of Samsung’s bottom line. During the second quarter, its semiconductor business generated 11.61 trillion won ($10.39 billion) in operating profit, nearly 80 percent of the entire operating income. On the other hand, Samsung’s handset business reported a big fall in quarterly profit from a year ago. Sales of Galaxy S9 and other flagship smartphones declined while it had to spend more marketing expenses to promote phones. Its phone business reported 2.67 trillion in operating income during the three-month period, compared with 4.06 trillion won a year ago. With growth in the premium smartphone market stagnating but the competition intensifying, handset makers have increasingly struggled to increase their profit.

Samsung gave an upbeat forecast on the semiconductor industry, echoing the rosy view of other memory chipmakers. But it expected challenges in the mobile business going forward. “The outlook for the memory chip business remains strong across all applications thanks to demand for server and PC memory as well as new mobile product launches,” it said in a statement. “The mobile market condition will likely remain challenging in the second half amid pricing competition and new product launches.” Samsung is due to announce the latest iteration of the Galaxy Note smartphone next week, which it said will hit shelves sooner than previous years. The company said the new Note smartphone, which has often been the most expensive phone model from Samsung, will be sold for “a reasonable price” this time. Costly high-end smartphones have increasingly lost luster in recent years because older phone models demonstrate decent performance for most consumers.

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UK lawmakers recommend tougher rules on Facebook L

BY DANICA KIRKA The Associated Press

ONDON—The UK government should increase oversight of social media like Facebook and election campaigns to protect democracy in the digital age, a parliamentary committee has recommended in a scathing report on fake news, data misuse and interference by Russia. The interim report by the House of Commons’ media committee to be released on Sunday said democracy is facing a crisis because the combination of data analysis and social media allows campaigns to target voters with messages of hate without their consent. Tech giants like Facebook, which operate in a largely unregulated environment, are complicit because they haven’t done enough to protect personal information and remove harmful content, the committee said. “The light of transparency must be allowed to shine on their operations and they must be made responsible, and liable, for the way in which harmful and misleading content is shared on their sites,” Committee Chairman Damian Collins said in a statement. The study was due to be published on Sunday, but a copy was leaked on Friday by Dominic Cummings, the director of the official campaign group backing Britain’s departure from the European Union. Social-media companies are under scrutiny worldwide following allegations that political consultant Cambridge Analytica used data from tens of millions of Facebook accounts to profile voters and help US President Donald J. Trump’s 2016 election campaign. The committee is also investigating the impact of fake news distributed via social-media sites. Collins ripped Facebook for allowing Russian agencies to use its platform to spread disinformation and influence elections. “I believe what we have discovered so far is the tip of the iceberg,” he said, adding that more work needs to be done to expose how fake accounts target people during elections. “The ever-increasing sophistication of these campaigns, which will soon be helped by developments in augmented reality technology, make this an urgent necessity.” The committee recommended that the British

government increase the power of the Information Commissioner’s Office to regulate social-media sites, update electoral laws to reflect modern campaign techniques, and increase the transparency of political advertising on social media. Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to address the issue in a so-called White Paper to be released in the fall. She signaled her unease last year, accusing Russia of meddling in elections and planting fake news to sow discord in the West. The committee began its work in January 2017, interviewing 61 witnesses during 20 hearings that took on an investigatory tone not normally found in such forums in the House of Commons. The report criticized Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg for failing to appear before the panel and said his stand-ins were “unwilling or unable to give full answers to the committee’s questions.” One of the committee’s recommendations is that the era of light-touch regulation for social media must come to an end.

Social-media companies can no longer avoid oversight by describing themselves as platforms, because they use technology to filter and shape the information users see. Nor are they publishers, since that model traditionally commissions and pays for content. “We recommend that a new category of tech company is formulated, which tightens tech companies’ liabilities, and which is not necessarily either a ‘platform’ or a ‘publisher,’ the report said. “We anticipate that the government will put forward these proposals in its White Paper later this year.” The committee also said that the Information Commissioner’s Office needs more money so it can hire technical experts to be the “sheriff in the Wild West of the Internet.” The funds would come from a levy on the tech companies, much in the same way as the banks pay for the upkeep of the Financial Conduct Authority. “Our democracy is at risk, and now is the time to act, to protect our shared values and the integrity of our democratic institutions,” the committee said. ■

Apple shares rise on pricey iPhones; no tariff impact yet APPLE made more money from higher-priced iPhones in the latest quarter, even as the number of phones it sold did not change much. The sluggish unit growth means Apple is no longer the second-biggest smartphone maker behind Samsung. Huawei took that spot, research firm IDC said on Tuesday, with 54.2 million phones versus Apple’s 41.3 million. The company’s earnings were announced amid escalating rhetoric around tariffs between the US and China. CEO Tim Cook said that while the company’s products hadn’t been hurt by tariffs imposed so far, Apple is still examining the impact of proposed US tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Cook said he’s “optimistic” the countries will work out their differences. “Each country can only prosper if the other does,” he said. Despite the trade war, China remains one of Apple’s best markets, posting doubledigit revenue growth in the country for the fourth quarter in a row, Cook said. Globally, higher selling prices for devices like the iPhone X and iPhone 8 pleased Wall Street analysts. They expect even bigger, fancier iPhones heading into the holidays. Shares of Apple rose 4 percent

after-hours on Tuesday. Cook also said he wasn’t fazed at the maturity of the smartphone market, which IDC said shrank 2 percent 342 million units in the quarter. “Whether it grows 1 percent or 2 percent...or shrinks 1 percent or 2 percent, it’s a great market because it’s just huge,” Cook said. Apple unit sales rose just 1 percent from a year ago, which was expected, but the average selling price grew 20 percent to $724 per iPhone, up from $606 a year ago. Cook said its premium iPhone X, which starts at $999, was the most popular iPhone in the quarter, despite being a few hundred dollars more than previous iPhones. It features a brighter screen that spans the device from edge to edge and boasts facial-recognition technology. Apple’s newer base models—the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus—also had $50 and $30 price increases compared with their predecessors. Revenue from the app store, music subscriptions and other services grew 31 percent to $9.5 billion, a record for Apple. Apple Music subscribers exceeded 50 million. Apple also reported a 37-percent increase, to $3.7 billion, in the division for miscellaneous hardware, including

Apple Watch and the HomePod smart speaker. But Apple saw revenue declines in both the iPad and Mac computers. “Apple is no longer a one-trick pony,” said Daniel Morgan, a portfolio manager with Synovus Trust Company, citing higher iPhone prices, a growing cash hoard, and increased services revenue. Its net cash stood at $129 billion, according to Moody’s analyst Stephen

Sohn. Cupertino, California-based Apple said net income rose 32 percent to $11.52 billion, or $2.34 per share, beating the $2.17 expected by analysts. Revenue rose 17 percent to $53.27 billion, also exceeding Street forecasts for $52.37 billion. For the current quarter ending in September, Apple said it expects revenue of $60 billion to $62 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $58.59 billion. AP

Saturday, August 4, 2018 A11

WAKE UP TO THE PERFECT SOUNDTRACK

TROUBLE getting up in the morning? Don’t worry. Whether you’re looking to hit the snooze button or need a jolt of energy, Spotify and the Clock app from Google will now offer the perfect soundtrack to start your day. Starting today, Spotify and Google are partnering to help both free and Premium users on Android phones to set their own unique alarms with music from Spotify’s 35 million track catalog. Setting a personal soundtrack to your waking moments has never been easier. “We’re excited to bring the ability to personalize your alarms on the Clock app from Google with the incredible music catalog from Spotify,” says Jorge Espinel, vice president for Business Development at Spotify. “This has been a top Spotify user request for years, and we can’t wait to see music fans picking their favorite tracks, artists and playlists to kick-start their day.” Simply open up the Clock app from Google, connect and authenticate your Spotify account, and you’re ready to: ■ SET YOUR PERSONAL ALARM SOUNDTRACK. Make your way to the “Alarms” tab to find instant music recommendations and effortlessly search and select any track, album, artist or playlist from Spotify to greet you the following morning. The same great experience is also available for our free users in shuffle mode. ■ CONTINUE LISTENING THROUGHOUT YOUR MORNING. To make sure you hit the ground running, Spotify has filled the tab inside the Clock app from Google with personalized recommendations from your recently played music, as well as curated Spotify morning playlists, including “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning,” “Have a Great Day!” and “Songs to Sing in the Shower.” Once you turn off the alarm, you’ll see an option to “Continue Playing,” offering a seamless way to continue listening and set you up for a productive day with Spotify. The Clock app from Google comes preinstalled on some Android devices and is available for download via the Google Play store for all Android mobile users.

EPSON HIGH-CAPACITY INK TANK INKJET PRINTERS EXCEED CUMULATIVE GLOBAL SALES OF 30 MILLION UNITS

SEIKO Epson Corp. announces that cumulative global sales of Epson’s high-capacity ink tank inkjet printers have reached 30 million units. Epson first launched high-capacity ink tank inkjet printers in October 2010 in Indonesia. The company had by the end of FY2017 (ended March 2018) introduced the printers in about 150 countries and regions, with growth in emerging economies causing the proportion of high-capacity ink tank products in the overall inkjet printer market to grow annually. Epson has continued to maintain the No. 1 share of the market in these products due to its strong brand recognition in the market and its abundant lineup. In FY2018 (ending March 2019), Epson will further accelerate the shift from conventional ink cartridge models to high-capacity ink tank models with the aim of establishing the latter as the inkjet printer mainstream. In both emerging and advanced economies, the company will also continue to promote the replacement of laser printers with high-capacity ink tank inkjet printers by enhancing its lineup with products with overwhelming cost performance and enhanced easeof-use. Through these efforts, Epson plans to sell 9.5 million high-capacity ink tank products in FY2018—an increase of 20 percent compared to the previous fiscal year. This is expected to account for about 55 percent of total Epson inkjet printer sales. Koichi Kubota, director, senior managing executive officer and chief operating officer, Printing Solutions Operations Division of Seiko Epson, commented, “High-capacity ink tank inkjet printers have a low environmental footprint, have lower running costs and take less time to print compared to laser printers and ink cartridge printers. Epson has transformed the printer business model, and will continue to provide comfortable printing environments that allow our customers around the world to demonstrate their creativity and enjoy high productivity.”

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • lifestylebusinessmirror@gmail.com

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Saturday, August 4, 2018 A12

Oppo Find X: Current novelty or future �lagship? THE TECHNIVORE ED UY

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T

HE word “revolutionary” is probably one of the most used (and often abused) by gadget companies who love to crow about how “game changing” their new device is and how their slab of glass and metal is better than that slab of glass and metal currently residing in your pocket. While some do live up to the hype, history shows that for every Samsung, Huawei and Apple phone, there are dozens of other products with features that look unbelievably amazing on paper but ended up as major flops (and even led to their brand’s downfall). Remember the Nokia N-Gage banana phone, those Windows phones, that bent HTC phone, or the Motorola Rokr which was the first phone to have iTunes? (Google the YouTube video which had Steve Jobs fuming mad during the demo.) If last year was all about having dual cameras, 2018 would probably be remembered as the year when phone manufacturers tried their best to get rid of the bezels and get the highest screen-to-body ratio. Many took the easy way by adopting the polarizing notch, and surprisingly it was Oppo and Vivo who are leading the notchless movement with their latest phones—the Vivo NEX and the Oppo Find X. I still have no idea if we’ll ever see the Vivo NEX, but Oppo officially launched the Find X last week and have already been accepting preorders.

REFIND HISTORY THE Find series of smartphones have always represented Oppo’s continuous exploration of technology and artistry with profound ideas on the future development of mobile phone. Launched in 2011, the Oppo X903 was the forefather of the series. It had a 4-inch screen, a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard, 1GHz processor, and 512MB of RAM. Not too impressive by today’s standards but seven years ago, it was already highend. Next came the Oppo Finder, which was known for being the world’s thinnest smartphone measuring only 6.65mm at its thickest point. It had a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display, 1GB of RAM, and 1.5GHz dual-core processor. While other brands were still bragging about their 720p display, Oppo jumped the gun to put out the first smartphone from China to have a 1080p screen.

This was the Oppo Find 5, which had a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB of RAM. The company also became the first smartphone to have 2K resolution on the 5.5-inch screen of the Find 7. The Find 7 was also the first to use their fast charging technology, called VOOC, that gives two hours of talk time with just a five-minute charge. It was 2014, the same year Oppo first opened their Philippine office. Each generation of Find products is a step closer to the perfect fusion of technology and art; and the Find X continues that legacy as it stakes its claim as the Future Flagship.

FINDING BEAUTY FIND X introduces the unique and beautiful Panoramic Arc Screen, an all-screen display with no compromises. The OPPO Find X adopts 6.42-inch, dual-arc OLED screen, supporting a display for rich color and vivid pictures. Benefiting from the unique COP packaging technology of a flexible screen, the Find X has an ultra-thin border, 1.65mm on the left and right border, 1.91mm on the top border, and 3.4mm on the bottom border, which increases screento-body ratio to 93.8 percent—the largest screen-tobody ratio in the mobile phone market today. The Find X comes in two gradient color combinations—Bordeaux Red and Glacier Blue. The Multifaceted Color Process used by Oppo creates a perfect blend of gradient design with a 3D arc on the rear. In the light, Find X shines like crystal and flowing water, presenting a colorful effect that changes with your surroundings.

STEALTH 3D CAMERAS TO get rid of the notch, the Find X uses an innovative sliding structure that completely disguises the cameras within the body of the phone. To activate the phone, all you have to do is make eye contact and the cameras will slide up for just a fraction of a second to verify your face via facial recognition and slide back down until you access the camera app again. The stealth 3D cameras not only include the 25-megapixel front camera and 16MP+20MP dual rear cameras, but also a 3D structured light module with many high-tech components. Flood illuminator, infrared camera, proximity sensor, dot projector, receiver and RGB camera are integrated into this unit. The 3D structured light module in Find X can project 15,000 dots, building a precise and complete 3D module of a user’s face, and then compares with the registered face of the owner to unlock. The 3D face recognition of O-Face has a higher level of security than fingerprint identification. The false acceptance rate of fingerprint recognition is 1/50,000, while the false acceptance rate of 3D face recognition is 1/1,000,000. O-Face Recognition, developed by Oppo, not only makes unlocking safer but also more convenient while offering support for mobile payment. Oppo has already made it possible to

pay with O-Face Recognition by integrating Alibaba’s Alipay, making Find X the first Android phone to support payment through face recognition. Powered by 3D structured light, the Find X introduces 3D Smart Selfie Capture. Find X creates a 3D model of the user’s face using O-Face Recognition with millimeter-level accuracy. Based on the resulting 3D model, AI technology intelligently analyzes facial characteristics such as face shapes and features, providing suggestions to make faces look more natural and realistic. In addition, precise face recognition enables the Find X to simulate various lighting effects on a human face, so portraiture lighting is enabled even for a selfie. Various lighting effects are supported including: feature light highlighting the contour of human face, bi-color light that simulates the classic red-blue color of neon, and rim light that brightens the skin color and makes the contour more vivid. Aside from 3D Smart Selfie Capture, O-Face also has another interesting function—3D Omoji. You can choose any interesting images to make Omojis or generate your cartoon avatar, and then create video or GIF emojis. Now, you can use them in any chat app and chat with friends using your own Omojis.

POWERFUL PERFORMANCE THE Find X isn’t just about beauty as it’s also equipped with the latest Snapdragon 845, Qualcomm’s most powerful CPU, to give it that premium, high performance experience. The CPU is built on a 10nm LPP process and an Adreno 630 graphic processor, improving graphic performance by 30 percent, while reducing power consumption by 30 percent. It also has an Adreno 630 GPU, with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and a huge 256GB of storage. The Find X has a 3730mAh battery that is supported by an upgraded version of its VOOC flash charging system. I’m not sure how long the ordinary VOOC system could fully charge the Find X, but for its more premium brother, the Find X Lamborghini Edition, the Super VOOC fully charges the phone in just 35 minutes. So are we really looking at the Future Flagship in the Find X, or will those motorized sliding cameras end up as a novelty? Based on our initial hands-on with the phone, I’d say holding the Find X is a truly different experience. Unlike most smartphones today which look almost the same, the Find X stands out both in color and design. It’s one of those very rare phones which won’t make you ask about specs because you know just by looking at it that it’s an ultra-premium flagship. But is it worth the P49,990 price tag? I’ll have the answer to that in our full review coming in the next few weeks.

20,000 NEW NOVASTARS LAST week I detailed eight reasons I think the Nova

3i would be another big hit for Huawei. What I didn’t expect was that it was going to sell 20,000 units on launch day. On July 28 I think Huawei was also able to set a couple of records for the brand. First is that they occupied both activity centers of Glorietta, with two setups, one for the launch and James Reid and the other side as an experience zone for those who want to try the different features of the Nova 3i. The other is for the sales of their shiny new midrange phone— again more than 20,000 units, which adds up to a combined value of P320 million. The Nova 3i is a solid followup to the Nova series and comes with a quad-camera setup, a HiSilicon Kirin 710 octa-core processor, 6.3-inch Full HD+ IPS LCD panel, dual front and rear cameras, as well as a glass back.

HUAWEI OVERTAKES APPLE EVEN more good news for the brand is that it now ranks second in the number of smartphone units shipped in the second quarter of 2018. According to a recent global quarterly market monitoring report from IDC, Huawei is now ranked at the second place with a market share of 15.8 percent, which surpasses Apple by 3.7 percent in a whole quarter for the very first time. Huawei continues to lead the China smartphone market with a record-high market share of 27.0 percent in 2018. In the first half of this quarter, Huawei’s P20/P20 Pro series found strong demand in the $600 to $800 price segment, helping Huawei build a high profile in the market Strategy Analytics also reported that Huawei soared 41 percent annually, from 38.4 million smartphones shipped worldwide during Q2 2017, to a record of 54.2 million units in Q2 2018. Huawei overtook Apple for the first time ever to become the world’s second-largest smartphone vendor. Huawei’s midrange Android models, such as Nova 2S and Nova 3e, are proving wildly popular across Asia and Europe. Research firm Canalys also reported a massive 41-percent year-on-year growth and a 54 million units sold by Huawei at the end of Q2 2018. Canalys acknowledged the strong sell-in of its latest flagship, the P20, which exceeded launch quarter sell-in for both the P10 and P9. The secret of Huawei’s success is borne out of its consistent and massive investments into research and development. At Huawei, over 10 percent of revenue is invested in R&D every year. According to its 2017 annual report, there are about 80,000 staff members working for R&D, taking 45 percent of the total number of employees. According to the 2017 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard report from the European Commission, Huawei ranked No. 6 among all the tech giants in the year of 2017 in terms of the R&D investment. ■